Crying at Dawn
by child-of-paradox-and-chaos
Summary: Harry won, but victory was bitter. Betrayed and hurt, he is forced into the Veil, accompanied by Snape. But instead of death they find new life. AU postOotP. KKM xover. Warnings: violance, abuse, R,Hr,D bashing, possible slash later. creature Harry, Snape
1. Chapter 1

Summary: It all went downhill after Sirius' death for Harry Potter, but Fate never ceased to cartwheel around him. Captured by Voldemort, he still won only to be executed by his own side for the victory which was paid literally by his blood and pain. Forced into the Death Veil, and... accompanied by Snape?!!!... he finds out that life is far from over for him.. err, them. New world awaits for them, full of mysteries, adventures, ...demons?! And what's with Snape all of sudden?

Warnings: violence, mentions of abuse, language, definite though not graphic slash later, but not HP/SS, for them it's father/son relationship, creature HP, creature SS, AU post OotP, Kyou Kara Maou crossover, AU KKM post second season.

A.N: I've written it nearly year and a half ago, just to entertain myself and to practice English. I just wished to see my favourites heroes interacting, and wished to see Harry and Severus happy somewhere.

Disclamer: I don't own anything from Harry Potter books or Kyou Kara Maou anime series. I'm writing purely for fun and gain only writing experience for myself. And yes, I really gain it. Well, I hope.

_**Chapter 1**_

_Now…_

"_It's over. It's finally over_." – Harry Potter's entire being was filled only with this thought. He stood over gruesome remains of Voldemort as if paralyzed and couldn't turn his eyes away from defeated Dark Lord' s head; it lied several feet away from what was left of Tom's body. "_It's over. I'm free. Merlin, I'm free!_" – he couldn't help grinning madly, despite blood dripping from numerous wounds, and cold wind freezing his bare body. Well, almost bare, he had only torn remains of his school pants on him.

Who would have thought that The Final Battle would be so…short and…strange, really? He had no idea actually, how he did what he did, but suspected that somehow it was connected to what happened to him during his torture sessions in Voldemort's dungeons when he was captured by Death Eaters.

_A while back…_

Harry Potter's life was not easy since he was one and a half year old. First his parents were murdered by psychotic Dark Lord, who after hearing that damned Prophesy got obsessed with eliminating his possible defeater. Voldemort lost to Harry Potter at the night of attack because of Lily Potter's sacrifice, and Harry Potter lived. Then again, could his life with his relatives where he was stuck ever since be considered just that, a life, or merely an existence? Well, he survived them as he survived Voldemort's Avada Kedavra, and went to Hogwarts. Time spent at Hogwarts was happiest for him if not to mention numerous attempts to end his life, Snape, the one teacher who despised the very sight of him, and his schoolmates that were turning their back on him every time something happened. But he was a survivor, so he preserved. Then Sirius came into his life. Sirius, his Godfather, wrongly accused and convicted without even trial, escaped from Azkaban prison that was thought to be impossible to break out from. But Sirius did it for him, to protect him. He brought hope for the future to Harry, and that hope was shattered two years later when Harry was lured by resurrected Voldemort into a trap, and Sirius died in a rescue mission. If only Snape told him then that Sirius was safe…

When Sirius died, Harry blamed himself, naturally. And blamed Snape, of course, but himself more. He secluded himself for the summer in his room, barely eating and withdrawing into himself. He decided to push his friends away, and when school year began, he had been escaping from their watchful eyes whenever he could, his favorite place being Hogsmeade. Not that he as the main target of the enemy didn't understand danger of being in somewhat public place and unsupervised, without help and back-up, but the truth was that he became …not quiet actively suicidal, but death-welcoming, and unconsciously seeking danger. Well, he got his wish. On one of his many trips to the wizarding village he heard soft "Stupefy" from behind and then there was blackness. It was November at the time.

He came back to consciousness in the dungeons already chained down, and it was the beginning of the nightmare. During those impossibly endless sessions full of pain and screaming he was used as the main entertainment for psychotic bastards who liked to show off their knowledge (rather expressive, that he would admit) of the most extravagant and unusual torture spells and curses they knew. Voldemort participated as well intimidating his minions into awed silence with his incredibly painful and inventive curses (that hurt so much more than Crucio speaking truthfully), but he liked also to sit back and taunt Harry about his inability to protect best friends and family. He liked to torture Harry psychologically most of all. He took special delight in informing Harry about Death Eaters' raids and occasional killing spree. If someone known to Harry was killed, Voldemort spoke about every detail of their demise. The name of the Death Eater who did it, the name of the used curse, the effects and pain it caused, and what was done to the bodies. That was how he learned about Dursley's death, and death of Remus. While he never wished such fate on the Dursley's (they were torn by Voldemort's pet werewolves), he couldn't find it in himself to mourn for them after all they had put him through. As for Remus… His last true link to his parents was dead by the hand of Bellatrix Lestrange, who cursed Remus with Argento Sanguina while Professor Lupin was on some errand for Headmaster in Knockturn Alley by himself. Harry couldn't even imagine how painful it should have been for the werewolf to have his blood turn slowly into liquid silver, knowing that there is no counter curse, no chance to get to healers. He imagined Remus lying there on the deserted street under smirking eyes of Bellatrix and listening to her insane giggling and laughing, and …just… dying. He didn't even get a burial, or body to bury. Apparently liquid silver inside werewolves makes them to burn from inside out. Never before had he felt such hate and rage as in these minutes. He could cast ten Crucio on Bellatrix at the same time now, he supposed. Each one of them would be as painful and potent as Bella's own. It was after Remus' death that IT happened.

Every session continued until he was on the brink of dying, literally few breaths away from the end, and then he would be healed back to…well, it could hardly be called health, more like stable condition. When Voldemort told him about Remus, Harry first felt like drowning, then emptiness, then hate, and rage, and pain, and agony, both mental and physical. Then something snapped inside him, as if some wall had been broken, or unknown part of his mind shattered apart and then was pulled together, but _differently_. Some incredible and powerful force akin to his own magic, but more alien, more wild, and more tangible - filled him for several seconds changing him (barely, but he could feel it), and just as suddenly as it appeared, it vanished. Every now and then, and after each session this force had been filling him for longer and longer periods of time, unnoticeably to others. Harry couldn't understand what it meant at all, but he could feel changes in himself already. The curses didn't hurt as much as before, and his hearing improved a lot. His eyes didn't require glasses anymore, and he could differentiate Death Eaters by smell alone. He found out that he could read emotions of others by directing his attention towards them. Harry supposed these changes would be useful in usual circumstances; however he was surrounded by enemies and was in constant torture. He could feel hate, and anger, and sickening pleasure around himself, and smells made him violently ill not once. He was brought to the near death state at every session as before but now he had a clear conscience during all of the time. If the changes were meant to do him good, they failed drastically. They had brought him closer to breaking. That he wasn't broken yet was a miracle by itself. But he had hope and desire to protect his friends, so he refused to give up by sheer will alone.

Not too long after Remus' death Voldemort gathered all Death Eaters in the main hall of his manor, and placed Harry chained down in front of his throne. He circled Harry curling his lips in twisted smile.

"Ha-a-a-rry, it seems to me you Griffindorish foolishness is rather contagious. Wouldn't you like to know who was caught yesterday defending those filthy mudbloods on Hogsmeade trip?" - Vodemort drawled sibilantly.

"Draco Malfoy?" – sarcastically asked Harry. He knew his cheek will result in Crucio or something like that, but couldn't resist. He couldn't allow Voldemort to see how close to giving up he was.

"How did you know?" – Voldemort's eyes narrowed in suspicion, Crucio temporarily delayed.

"Draco Malfoy?!!" – Harry could only gape in astonishment at the Dark Lord. – "Was he under Imperio?!"

"I see," - mused Voldemort, - "you had no idea, but your luck struck again. I wonder if you did all your tests at Hogwarts this way. After all you managed to pass your courses so far and not by studying, I'm sure. Oh, and by the way, Crucio."

"Go to hell, Tom," - wheezed Harry trying to swallow down screams.

"How rude, Potter. But then, what else could be expected from the filthy blood?" – Voldemort laughed shortly, and then ordered to some Death Eater. – "Bring Malfoy traitor here."

Several minutes later the ordered Death Eater dragged in the bloodied body that Harry with shudder recognized as his rival Slytherin. Malfoy was conscious but could hardly stand by himself, so Death Eater dumped him on the floor near Harry. Draco turned his head slowly and stared at Harry for some moments. Something unrecognizable flashed through his eyes, and then he glanced blankly in the space ahead of him. Voldemort gloated:

"Well, well, well.. Two heroes lie before me, all broken and hopeles. Isn't it marvelous? Draco, why won't you share with us, what is it Dumbledore told you to convince to protect those disgusting mudbloods so bravely? Did he decide to make you the new Golden Boy, Hero of the Wizzarding World? Or promised you something?"

Harry looked at Malfoy Junior worriedly. Why had Malfoy suddenly decided to risk his life for those he always despised so much? Was Voldemort right in his assumptions? Was Harry himself abandoned by Dumbledore and Order of the Phoenix so fast? _No, no, they wouldn't do it!_

Malfoy snorted.

"I wouldn't do anything Dumbledore asked me, I don't consider myself an idiot. I had my reasons, and they have no relation whatsoever with the old git."

"Hmm, be as it may, you still betrayed me. But I'm feeling merciful today, so I'm giving you a choice. Here is the knife." – He tossed black wickedly looking knife on the floor near Malfoy. – "And you can see Potter beside you. You can do anything you want to him with this knife, as long as you don't kill him, and for that I'll allow you to die quickly. Or you can refuse and die very – very slowly and painfully." – Voldemort looked positively amused.

Malfoy paled as he looked at the knife, and was shivering slightly.

"Do it, Malfoy," - Harry caught Malfoy's eyes with determination.

"Do what, scar head?" –snapped at him pale Slytherin.

"Use the knife, ferret, what else. I'll survive anyway, you know – Boy-Who-Lived and all," - Harry smiled weakly, bitterness in his eyes. – "Use it as long as you can. In the worst case, you'll die quickly without suffering, in the best case – you'll get the chance to escape."

Malfoy stared at him blankly for several moments, not quiet believing his ears. His worst rival was giving him the chance for quick death or escape, ready to pay for that with his own blood and suffering. Not that will do any good in his case, but Potter couldn't know it. So bloody Gryffindorish he is. Still, he really underestimated his heroic nature. When he saw Potter there, lying in chains before the Dark Lord, he didn't expect to find that wild fire in his eyes. If several months of constant torture hadn't broken him, Potter really was something. And maybe he really did have a chance to win. Pity he himself won't see it, but when was fate ever fair to Draco?

Malfoy slowly got to his knees and picked up the knife, then crawled over to Potter. From the corner of the eye he saw how Dark Lord leaned eagerly forward on his throne, expecting the entertainment to begin. Malfoy bent over chained Potter, pretending trying to choose a spot to begin, and whispered quietly, his back shielding them from Voldemort's glinting eyes.

"Listen, Potter. There won't be escape for me, cause I'm dying anyway. I've been sort of.. cursed, and there is no counter curse, so it's no use trying to save me. But I can do something for you, and I need you to answer me first. Do you think you'll beat him?"

"Yess," - hissed Harry softly, his eyes burning with hate. Draco looked startled, but continued.

"Then I, Draco Lucius Malfoy, give you my heritage of Varnaay by the Right of Willing Last Blood." – Draco breathed out and began to draw some runes on Harry's chest making it look like he was randomly drawing lines over Harry's chest.

The moment the knife touched Harry's bare chest, he felt the presence of the mysterious power. It swirled around them; he could feel it examining Malfoy. He glanced at Draco, and scanned him. Well, no malicious intents, strange calmness and acceptance. Sorrow? Grief, so deep and fresh…Perplexion?

He was surprised and looked at Malfoy's face. Draco continued to draw the runes, but his eyes betrayed that he felt the power, too. At last, Malfoy finished, and asked urgently:

"Do you accept my Heritage as your own?"

"Yes," - murmured Harry.

"Promise me, you'll protect Severus, my Godfather." - asked him Malfoy suddenly, his voice trembling slightly.

"What?" - Harry's voice wavered. – "You mean Snape? But he…" - his voice trailed off, as he saw the desperate look on Draco's face. And suddenly he could only hear the echo of the words "godfather" and "protect" in his head. He couldn't say "no" to that, could he? He failed Sirius, killed him if he was honest to himself. At least he'll try to protect Draco's godfather. Even if that was Snape who hated his guts. – "I promise." – he said firmly looking Malfoy into eyes.

"So mote it be." – Malfoy drew the knife across his own palm and then pressed it to the runes on Harry's chest.

The pain was on par with Crucio; Harry felt like burning inside out, his back hurting especially. Power rolled of him in waves alarming Dark Lord that something was not right. Voldemort angrily threw Malfoy away from Harry with a flick of his wand.

"You…. You'll pay for your foolishness…"- he hissed in rage. – "I'll make you beg for death for weeks before you'll get it."

"We-ell, good luck with that." – drawled Malfoy mockingly, gathering his last strength, and stabbed himself in the heart.

"Arrrrgh!!" – howled Voldemort. – "Crucio! Crucio! Crucio!" – he cursed his followers randomly, not forgetting to hit Harry as well. – "What has he done to you? Answer me, Potter!! Or I'll make you, and you know how good I'm at persuasion.."

"I have no idea," - coughed the blood Harry, deciding to avoid more pain for now. – "He drew some runes, and that's it."

"I don't see any runes." – Dark Lord's eyes narrowed.

"What?!" – to Harry's astonishment there were indeed no runes on his chest. - "But they were there…"

"Interesting," - mused Voldemort, calming down a little. – "But we have lost our entertainment guest, unfortunately. So you'll have to pay for that."

That session was the worst of them all, making Harry curse Malfoy's name in the end, though he supposed he would have done the same choice if he knew back then what would happen. That time the power stayed twice as long as during last time.

About dozen sessions after, as it was the only thing Harry could measure his time by now, Voldemort decided that the time for the main strike has come. Tending to be dramatic he planned to kill Harry in front of all opponents on the battlefield, and attack Hogwarts using their despair over death of that bloody Gryffindor. He ordered the Death Eaters to assemble themselves before Hogwarts, and wait for him not attacking. At the same time he put his captive Boy-Who-Lived through the torture session, but not getting him too close to death's door. Right after session he brought him to battlefield, where Hogwarts' defenders gathered outside already. Members of The Order of the Phoenix in their golden with black battle robes, Ministry workers and Aurors in their uniforms as well, and senior Hogwarts students from last two years. All were standing shoulder to shoulder in organized groups. They were ready for battle, apparently.

Voldemort smirked at them maliciously.

"Look, Dumbledore! That is your saviour!" – he kicked Harry. – "Will he save you now? Will he protect you? You better surrender now and pray for quick death, old fool. And you, Ssseveruss… Traitor…You'll regret your treachery, that I promise you."

Hearing that Harry managed to raise his head and saw Professor Snape standing among other professors in Order of the Phoenix' uniform, his wand clutched in his hand. Draco's eyes came to Harry's mind: ".._protect.. Severus… godfather_..". And then IT came again. He felt the power coming and consuming him, and understood IT won't leave as usual this time. He couldn't control IT, but tried to concentrate on his desire to protect Hogwarts and his friends and allies, and especially Professor Snape, from the Dark Lord and his minions. And held onto that while before his eyes Voldemort was ripped apart and Death Eaters were falling dead to curses they used on Harry during torture and Harry was wavering under the wild torrent of pain, fear and terror and... When power left him, he was standing alone among dead bodies of Voldemort's army, covered in blood and unsteady from torture, power rush and onslaught of emotions. And then he understood that The War was over.

_Now…._

Delighted with his freedom, Harry turned to Dumbledore and others, smile still on his face. First of all, he noticed bewildered look on Snape's face, then he saw fear in Headmaster's eyes, and then... plain terror on other's faces.

"Demon freak.." – fearfully shuddered Ron.

"Monster," - spat hatefully Hermione.

"He became new Dark Lord," - he heard others whispering. – "Look at him, at what he's done. He's as Dark as they come."

"Demon…"

"No human could do that…"

"Freak.."

"Abomination…"

"Mr. Potter."

Not understanding, he looked at Headmaster.

"What…?"

"I'm sorry, my boy. It seems I failed you, I couldn't save you from turning to darkness. I'm so sorry, my boy, that you had to turn out just like Tom. And I'm sorry, but for the good of Wizarding World you can't be allowed to live. As the Head of Wizengamot Council, I sentence you to Death Veil."

"What..?" – falling into shock whispered Harry.

"I'm sorry, my boy, but you are too dangerous to let you live. We've had enough battling one Dark Lord." - Dumbledore raised his wand. – "Stupefy."

Harry, still in shock and feeling waves of fear and hate didn't even try to duck, and fell down onto his back stupefied.

"Albus! Have you lost your mind?!" – Snape shouted suddenly. – "He saved us and you discard him just like that?! You told me to protect him for that?!"

"Severus, sure you understand my decision? Look at what he's done. Do you want to risk him turning into the Dark Lord worse than Tom? His powers are not matured yet, and he is already so powerful that easily destroyed Tom and his servants. Do you imagine what he would be capable of if we'd let him to grow up? It can't be allowed to pass!"

"He won't become like that! He's Lily's child!" – Snape was desperate. - "You can't kill Her child! I promised to protect him!"

"I free you of your promise." – Dumbledore answered calmly.

"Well, I refuse to be freed!!"

"He will be executed one way or another, Severus. I'm sorry, but you won't change that."

"I won't abandon him! Not him too! I've lost Draco, and if you take Potter away, what will I live for?"

"You'll find something, I'm sure. After all, you love Potions." – Dumbledore serenely smiled at him.

"I won't." – Snape looked at Headmaster coldly. – "When are you going to kill him?"

"Execute, Severus, not kill. Harry we knew is dead, we all saw it. He wouldn't allow for all Death Eaters to be killed like that."

"You don't know what he would or wouldn't do. Answer my question, Dumbledore."

"Immediately. We can't have the chance of him escaping. So, the execution has to be right now."

Snape glanced around him, looking for support, for someone to help him to protect Potter, but everyone had only fear and disgust in their eyes, and approval for Dumbledore's actions. Every one last of them.

That was not right. Why was he the only one to defend Potter? They never went along, not that it was the boy's fault though… The only fault Potter did was having that blasted James Potter's face and being sorted into Gryffindor… After Potter was captured, Snape was chosen to inform Potter's relatives, and that visit left him shocked for many days. How could he be so blind? How could he not see the signs of abuse? The lone and fragile child behind that bloody mask of Gryffindor Golden Boy? When Snape told Dursley's about what happened they laughed! And told him that it was "bloody pity it hadn't happened earlier". In anger he Legiliminced them and it left him feeling sick and shaking in fury. He didn't touch them then, but promised them that they will be brought to court and will go to Azkaban for many-many years. Too many to survive…

And then they got themselves killed. Revenge was ripped out from his hands, but justice was served at least, even if like that. Funny thing fate is…

"I see." – the Potion Master said calmly. – "That is how you treat the one who saved you. Maybe he's better to be dead than live among the likes of you, then. But I won't leave him. Not him too."

He went to stupefied Gryffindor and gently picked him up.

"What are you going to do, Severus? Escape with him?" – Dumbledore's face darkened.

"Not at all, Headmaster." – spat Snape. – "I know you won't give him a chance to live in peace until he's dead. And after everything he went through I think he would prefer to die, too. So I'm going to the Death Veil."

Snape disapparated not giving Dumbledore time to answer, and appeared in front of Ministry of Magic. It was empty, as all Aurors and workers went to Hogwarts. With covered in blood Gryffindor in his arms he silently walked through the Ministry halls. As he reached the room with the Veil, he heard echo of steps behind him. When he turned to it, he saw Dumbledore walking fast towards them. Without saying anything Snape turned back and entered the room.

"Severus, I'm glad you saw reason. But why in Merlin's name do you want to be the one to execute that..boy?" – Dumbledore's voice broke the silence in the room.

"I said I won't abandon Lily's child, Headmaster. You may consider it as my resignation." – Snape replied not turning back. Lily... Maybe he'll see her once again before falling to Hell. Maybe she'll forgive him... He tightened his arms around Harry and stepped into the Veil.


	2. Chapter 2

And I present to you second chapter:))) You should thank my wonderful beta teenwitch18 who "groomed" this chapter for me! I'm very grateful to her...

Disclamer: I don't own anything from Harry Potter books or Kyou Kara Maou anime series. I'm writing purely for fun and gain only writing experience for myself.

_**Chapter 2**_

White emptiness stretched in every direction… Nothingness… Silence... They were falling, falling, falling into eternal light. Snape never thought that death would be like this. "_Hmm, death_?" He thought people don't have a body in after-life, but he felt his arms and… "_Harry_!" He still held Harry in his arms, though the now wounded Gryffindor was wide-awake and staring at him with frightened and unblinking eyes. Wait, he was wounded? Indeed, it seemed like that. "_What kind of death is this_?"- Snape was definitely confused.

"Oy, fancy meeting you here, Snape." – Snape stilled in dread, hearing a voice from behind. "_No, no, for Merlin's sake, not that. Am I in Hell?" _

"Oy, Snape! You, greasy git!" -the voice was persistent.

"Long time no see, Black." – Snape scoffed disdainfully at the bane of his existence, not turning to face him though.

"Sirius?" – Harry whispered suddenly, his face alight with joy. – "Sirius!!!"

He tried to free himself from Snape's arms, but Padfoot appeared before him frantically waving his hands.

"No, Harry! Don't do it!" – when Harry stopped in surprise, Sirius sighed in relief. – "Whew, that was close…"

"Sirius?" – Harry looked at him with questioning eyes. Strange, he couldn't sense his godfather.

"Well, you see, Harry. You are in the Veil right now." – Harry looked around and noticed the blinding whiteness surrounding them. They were literally floating in space, yet they weren't falling anymore, thank Merlin.

"But, but, how?... I was … Oh. Oh! Dumbledore really did it?.. And they… they… let it happen… They really meant it then.. I'm a demon…" - said Harry his eyes dulling in pain .

"No!" –yelled Snape, surprising even himself with his intervention. – "They are fools and imbeciles, and are not worthy of your suffering. So stop this nonsense right now and erase those idiotic thoughts from your head."

"He's right, Harry, however much it pains me to admit it." – Sirius said quite forcefully. Harry looked at Snape bewildered, and then blinked in surprise. It had just occured to him that it was Snape who was holding him.

"Wait, Professor? You're in the Veil, too? What are you doing here? How..? They executed you, too? Oh Merlin, I promised Draco I'd protect you, and I've failed already. No, no, no... I don't deserve to live, after all." - whispered Harry, his whole body trembling at the thought of his failure to keep his promise to Draco.

"Mr. Potter." - said Snape sounding exasperated. - "I'll say it only once, and you better pay attention. I stepped into the Veil by my own choice and my choice only. My decisions are mine, and only I bear responsibility for them. No one, and I repeat no one forced me into the Veil, and if anyone could, it would most certainly not be you. So you better not feel guilty on my account." – said Snape trying to look intimidating without being overly frightening.

"But why?" – said Harry looking at his Professor in confusion.

"I had my reasons, Pot... Harry." – Snape turned his eyes away from Harry's and caught the understanding and somewhat sorrowful look on Black's face. _Hmm, Death has been really good to him. He lost that crazy glint in the eyes, and looks like he's in his twenties. _– "What do you want, Black? And what are we doing here? I conclude from the condition of our bodies that we aren't as dead as you would think one should be after stepping through the Veil." said Snape haughtily, his voice condescending.

"You are right, Snape. You should be dead, and to be truthful, you are dead to the outside world, but here, behind the veil, you are alive, and because of the nature of the Veil you shouldn't be separated from each other, or you'll get lost in the nothingness. Until you die here. And that would be a long, long time, especially for you Snape, because you were in full health when you stepped into the Veil. Well, considering the circumstances... Harry, on the other hand, is wounded, but as he noticed maybe, his wounds don't bother him right now. The reason for this is because here, time is stopped in comparison with the real world. Though, the more of your personal time you spend here, the more it will speed to match real world's time. So death here.. Yeah, well… not so good." - Sirius shrugged as if apologizing.

"But I digress. See, the thing is, we, the dead, are very, very, so very disappointed in the Wizarding World like you wouldn't believe. By dead I mean allthe people killed by Voldemort and his slimy followers, no offence."- said Sirius as he rubbed the back of his head.

Snape's eyes boggled.

"No offence?!! Black, are you delusional?! You just told me that you don't mean to insult me. Did death muddle your brain? Have you finally gone around the edge?"

"Oh, I wish to insult you alright! But just you!" – Sirius grinned, and then continued seriously in slightly faraway tone. – "After dying you see thing you couldn't understand before." - he looked weary all of sudden. - "And I saw how wrong I was about you. I'm sorry, Snape, that it took me dying to see you for the respect-worthy person you are."

Both Snape and Harry openly gawked at the solemn face of Sirius Black, temporarily forgetting their current situation. "_I'm hallucinating..._" - the same thought went through both of their heads.

"But let's return to the matters on hand!" - Sirius exclaimed with fake cheerfulness, sweating slightly at the force of their stares.

"As I said before, we, the dead ones, are disappointed. And angry, can't forget that." – added Black thoughtfully. – "After all, Dumbledore knew that I was innocent from the very beginning, as I found out after my not-death. And he didn't want to lose his oh-so-important influence on Harry, so he placed him with those sorry excuses for human-beings. No need to say, both Lily and James are irate with him. But… well… it's too late to do anything about that. You, Harry, were not meant to die for a long time yet. This concerns you too, Snape. Here, in the Veil, we have a certain amount of power over those that come through it. So we've decided to return you to the living world. But, well, you see…" - Sirius scratched his head. – "We can't return you to the world you are from. Rules, hmm….Hate 'em… We... frankly, we don't know which world you'll be returned to. But we do know this: it will be inhabited by demons, or at least part of it. But that's not too bad! You'll have a chance, though not guaranteed, to find your future happiness there. And we, the people most close to you, who are dead, can gift you with some things."

"But Sirius, I don't want to go there." – Harry cried brokenly. – "I don't need any gifts! I just want to join you, Mum, Dad, and Moony! Why can't I stay?" Harry cried, his voice wavering and breaking as he spoke.

"I'm sorry, kiddo. You don't see it now, but you'll miss out on a lot by dying. You should live, and have a long and happy life full of adventures, not like the ones you've had, but more…errr.. safe, I suppose. Both your Mom and Dad wish for you to continue to live. And Snape, Lily has some words for you, too." said Sirius, switching his gaze from his godson to Snape.

"She does?" – Snape whisperd, raising his head from inspecting Harry's wounds. – "She's angry with me, isn't she?" - said Snape, his resigned tone betraying his emotionless face.

"Oh no, she forgave you for everything a long time ago, she just wants you to live on as well." - Sirius nodded his head as if agreeing. - "She said to tell you to quit wallowing in misery and hiding behind your masks. She's actually quite proud of you in some matters, though some of your actions in the past have made her sad." – Sirius said, intently pointing to Harry with his eyes.

"I…understand." – Snape lowered his head in thought. He was overwhelmed from the relevations, and his calmness wasn't easy to maintain. Too many turns of fate for one evening...

"But why didn't they come themselves?" – Harry looked at Sirius hopefully.

"Not allowed." – said Sirius, smiling sadly at his godson. – " The dead are not allowed to interact directly with the living world. But I'm neither dead nor alive. When I fell into the Veil, I was on the verge of dying from that nasty Stoning Curse from Bellatrix, but still alive. What's even more important though, is that I was innocent and had a desire to protect you burning deep within me, and an even deeper love for you. The Veil is alive in a sense, and is sentient to a certain degree. It sensed me, and bound me to itself. I can interact with the after-world, and I can visit it, but I can also interact with people who stepped into the Veil, and are innocent or worthy from the Veil's point of view. Like you, for example. To put it simply, I'm Guardian of the Veil now. You should also know, Harry, that you are marked by the Veil, too. Your time spent on the verge of dying opened the way for the Veil's energy into your soul. That is how you defeated Voldemort and his Death Eaters, and that's also why Snape didn't die along with them. The Veil used you as the conduit for Justice."

"Ah well, now that we are done with that part, let's discuss your gifts." – Sirius rubbed his hands together gleefully. - "First of all, you'll need names."

"Black, it may have escaped your mental capabilities, but we do have names." – Snape drawled sarcastically, raising one eyebrow.

"Oh, cut it out, you overgrown bat! You need new names, now that you're not wizards anymore."-cried Sirius, his eyes sparkling mischieviously.

"What?!!!!!" – shouted both Snape and Harry in unison. – "What do you mean we aren't wizards anymore?!"

"Huh? Didn't I tell you?" – Sirius asked sheepishly. – "Right then. The magic of our world is unique. One of a kind really. It can't exist in other worlds. Besides, you need to be different, because whether you meant to or not, you are, in fact, technically dead to the Universe. If you go as you are now, death will be drawn to you. So you have to be changed, names included."

"And who's going to name us, Black? You? That doesn't excite me too much." – Snape stared at Sirius blankly.

"Ahh… don't be an ass, Snapey. I've got you a good name, I'd like to hope. But I'm not the only one to name you. People who were close to you in life have the right to name and gift you." - Sirius almost glowed with smugness.

"Then how in Hades' name are _you_ able to do that, Black?!" - Snape couldn't process the idea.

Harry, who had been silent before now, a little stumped by Professor Snape's outbursts of protectiveness and sorrow, puzzlement and sparks, some hope somewhere deep inside, and just enjoying the sight of his Godfather floating around, decided to make his input into the conversation.

"You know, Professor, but he _was_ close to you. You don't have to be a friend to be close to someone. After all, I and Voldemort were pretty close, you could say. And you and Sirius …errr…despised each other a lot, so you can be considered close. You two were emotionally tied together."

"Exactly, Prongslet! And whoa, but that was deep… When did you get that smart, kiddo?" – Sirius wiped an imaginary tear from his laughing eyes. – "I'm sooo proud of you."

Harry smiled shyly in embarassment, while Snape pretended to be occupied with studying the whiteness around them.

"So who's going to name us? And what will we be if not wizards?" – Harry asked, growing worried. – "Voldemort's not going to give me a name, is he? Cause I don't want it then."

In astonishment Snape nearly dropped Harry while Sirius gawked in horror.

"Merlin's staff, no, Harry! Voldemort isn't here."-exclaimed Sirius in disbelief.

"You mean he's alive?!!!" – Harry chocked in terror, feeling similar emotions pouring from Snapes' seemingly emotionless body.

"Wha...?! No!!!!" – Sirius rubbed his temples tiredly. – "He's erased, Harry. Completely. What he's done to himself, to his soul… it was irreversible, and after being destroyed by the Veil through you, he was completely eradicated from existence. Well, his soul was decomposed and absorbed by you as pure energy and life force, nothing more."

"I absorbed Voldemort?" – asked Harry weakly. – "I… I… How? I'm not turning into a Dementor, am I?" asked Harry, his eyes widening even more at the thought of becoming one of those accursed creatures.

"Potter, it astounds me what ridiculous ideas your brain can produce." – Snape said, sounding amused if nothing else. – "You're not turning into Dementor, so calm down, for Merlin's sake!"

"I'm sorry, Professor Snape." – said Harry afraid that Snape would get tired of his stupid thoughts and would drop him into the terrifying nothingness that surrounded their small group. He fell silent again, while Sirius continued his explanation.

"So-o… the ones to name you are Moony, Prongs, Lily, Draco and of course, me. And yourselves for each other. The first to be named will be Snape."

"This century would be preferable, Black." – Snape feigned boredom, but Harry noticed how Snape's arms tightened around him and felt a wave of discomposure fluttering among Snape's emotions.

Sirius smirked mischievously and proclaimed:

"From me you get the name.. Anarawd. Your eloquence always made me jealous, truthfully speaking. So there… Now, Moony has chosen the name Eskil for you. He admired your Potions skills a lot, and asked me to thank you for the Wolfsbane, by the way. Prongs decided to give you the name Vemados. He had to admit your courage is worthy of Gryffindor himself."

By that point Snape looked visibly discomforted, and Harry wondered if he would be strangled accidentally in his Potion Professor's arms from the force with which he was clutched. It would be a funny way to die after surviving all those years of hell masquerading as his life. - "Draco," - meanwhile Sirius went on, - "has chosen the name Ehren. He admired you a lot, you know, and often wished you were his father instead of Lucius."

"And Lily named you Mehtar. She said… she said you always were and always will be her prince." – Sirius gazed at him with sadness in his eyes for a while, but Snape didn't even notice it. He was lost in thoughts. Padfoot turned to Harry. – "It's your choice now, Harry. How do you name Professor Snape?"

Harry looked up at Professor's face and was startled to see that Snape was looking right back.

He quickly averted his eyes back to Sirius.

"I… would like to give him the name Soteres. He was my protector and savior even when I didn't know about it." – He turned his face back to Snape. – "I had a lot to think about in Voldemorts' dungeons. You always protected me, from Voldy and his Death eaters. Heck, you even protected me from myself. And for that I am grateful."

"I just was doing what had to be done, Mr. Potter." – Snape emanated uneasiness in strong waves though Harry detected flutters of gratitude and hope for… errr…getting along? Since when had Snape decided to like him?

"So your full name is… which order do you want them to go in, by the way?" – Sirius asked after a pause.

"It doesn't matter to me." – said Snape his uneasiness lessening slightly.

"Hmm. Then it will be Mehtar Ehren Soteres Anarawd Eskil Vemados Amun'Narayn." – Happily declared Sirius.

"Very well." – nodded Snape, but stopped suddenly. – "Wait, where did Amun'Narayn come from?"

"It's your last name. The Veil conveyed its wish to me to give you that name as a mark of its blessing. So here you go."

"Harry, it's your turn." – Sirius stared at him with affection. – "I give you the name Arden, as you were the sparkle in my life that brought me happiness when I was ready to fall into the abyss."- He cleared his throat embarrassed by his words. - "Prongs decided to give you the name Simha, because you were the epitome of Gryffindor and his ideals, and your father is very proud of you, and likes to call you "my little lion".

Harry blushed wondering if he could disappear somewhere, far, far way from there. Of all the things to say... And in the presence of Snape! Though to be fair, he too was a witness to embarrassing process known as Snape-naming, and even participated... But "my little lion"! It was... too intimate for sharing! Sirius' death seemed to rob him of any sense of propriety... if he ever had any...

"Moony gives you the name Ramiel; he believes that it suits you greatly and is telling you to not give up on happiness. He also wants you to not grieve so much on his account. His death was messy, yes, but he's happy now." - His Godfather continued merrily never suspecting of Harry's jumbled feelings. "Your Mum gave you the name Leif, and says that no matter what, she'll always love you. Forever. And Draco decided to name you Anestes, because he never understood what gave you the strength to rise again and again after being brought down time and time again, but he admired you for it. Now, only Severus' choice remains." – said Sirius prompting Snape to give his name for Harry.

The Potion Master was still lost in thought, but after Sirius' words looked at Harry uncertainly. He paused, and when Harry was just one big bundle of nervousness, finally said.

"Desi. I give you the name Desi. Your eyes are full of pain and sorrow, and you yearn for family and happiness; I want your name to be the mirror of your eyes, like your eyes are the mirror of your soul. Maybe one day it will change, but it's Desi for now."

"Thank you, Professor." – Harry decided that he liked the name given by Snape even if it was speaking of sadness. Still, it reflected the truth, and was so… fitting. Speaking of Snape... _Since when did he become a poet? He isn't himself at all..._

"How would you like your names to be placed, Harry?" – Sirius asked interrupting Harry's train of thought.

"Well, I'd like it to be Desi Leif Arden Ramiel Anestes Simha."

"So it's Desi Leif Arden Ramiel Anestes Simha Amun'Narayn for you."

"Wait, we get the same last name?" – Harry asked in surprise.

"Uh-huh, because you'll be sharing our gifts, and it will make you family in some things. I hope you are not opposed to it."

Harry wasn't sure what to think, and he glanced at his Professor's face, but it was unreadable. Concentrating on his emotions he caught sparks of hope and …happiness… _That is strange_, he thought. _Definitely strange_.

"I don't mind," - coughed Snape. OK, maybe Harry was hallucinating…_That_ _would explain it all._ Though something told Harry he wasn't dreaming.

"Excellent!" – Sirius whirled in excitement around himself, - "now we get to gifts part! Yay!"

"Wait one moment!" - Snape stopped him. - "Were such long names really necessary?"

"It all comes back to being different from your former selves. You had short names - so long names will be one more detail to protect you. Besides, names are powerful magically speaking, and being named as you are is a strong tie to higher realms and protection." - Sirius struggled to find the words, but finally slumped his shoulders in defeat. - "It's difficult to explain: names are connected with different kinds of Magic, all of it quiet powerful. So just trust me, that was necessary."

A/N: For those who are interested:

Mehtar - "prince" (India)

Ehren - "honorable" (German)

Soteres - "rescuer, saviour" (Greek)

Anarawd - "legendary father if Iddig, eloquent" (Welsh)

Eskil - "vessel of the gods, divine cauldron" (Old Norse)

Vemados - "courage of a bear" (German)

Amun - "God of Mystery" (Egyptian)

Desi - "yearning, sorrow, desired" (Latin, Italian)

Leif - "loved" (Scandinavian)

Arden - "eager, ardent, high" (Celtic)

Ramiel - "delightful, night; Thunder of God, Mercy of God" (Hebrew)

Anestes - "the risen one, bright" (Greek)

Simha - "lion" (Sanskrit), "joy" (Hebrew)

Narayn - shorted from "Narayan" which means "abode of beings", "path of man" (Sanskrit)


	3. Chapter 3

Third chapter finally:))) And my undying gratefulness to magnificent beta teenwitch18 who looked over this chapter for me!

Disclamer: I don't own anything from Harry Potter books or Kyou Kara Maou anime series. I'm writing purely for fun and gain only writing experience for myself and good mood from your reviews.

_**Chapter 3**_

"As I said earlier you have to change, so we're going to alter your appearance to a degree." - said Sirius, cackling evilly.

"I hope you won't do anything… drastic." - Snape's eyes followed the bouncing figure of Sirius Black with suspicion.

"Nothing to worry about, Snape." – Sirius stopped his bouncing for a second. – "I can't tell you though what we'll change. You'll have to see for yourselves when you get there. By the way, Harry, you've asked earlier about what you'll turn into, and to answer your question, you'll be a being called Shifters. It means that you'll have several forms: two Animagi-like and two human-like. Your main form will be human, called Prima; for magic and fighting. If the need arises you could use the second human-like form, called Secunda. Also your creature forms are called Tria and Quatra. They also have some magical abilities and can fight. Though I strongly recommend to avoid any fights in your case, Harry, and to avoid battlefields until you learn mind shielding. And even after that I wish you wouldn't participate in any fights." - explained Sirius, ticking off the list with his fingers.

"Why is that?" – said Snape, narrowing his eyes while Harry stiffened a little. – "What has Occlumency to do with fighting in his case?"

"Harry is an Empath," - said Sirius, delivering the blow offhandedly. – "It won't be healthy for him to feel his opponent's pain and feelings."

"He is …an Empath." – Snape stated slowly. Harry felt how Professor Snape's emotions went into turmoil, then suddenly vanished altogether.

"And when exactly were you going to enlighten me about this... little development, Mr. Potter?" – said Snape, his voice so sharp it could've cut the air.

Harry didn't answer. He was too busy breathing in short gasps; the only thing keeping him from falling into a full-blown panic attack were Snape's arms holding him. He couldn't feel Sirius, and now Snape. For all he saw with his eyes, his Empath senses were telling him that he was alone in the vast white emptiness of the Veil. Harry didn't realize 'till now how much he came to depend on sensing other people's emotions to orient himself in his surroundings.

"Snape, you idiot! Lower your shields NOW!" – Sirius frantically called to the former Head of Slytherin.

"Why should I?" - sneered the Occlumency Master. Above everything else, he was used to protecting his innermost emotions and feelings. Which Potter could easily find out now.

"Just do it, I'll explain after." - the urgency in Black's voice told Snape that it really was a serious matter.

"Very well, but don't try my patience, I'm not known to hold a great amount of it." – said Snape complying with Black's request, and immediately Harry began to calm down.

"Jeez, Snape, don't be such a pain in the ass." – Sirius sighed. – "Yes, Harry can read your emotions, but Snape… They're almost the only thing right now that holding him together. Didn't you ever think that after all that time in Voldemort's captivity, there was the onslaught of feelings of dying Death Eaters and Voldemort on the battlefield, and then, right after that, there was the hate attack of the so called "Light Side" it's a miracle that he's not insane. Your feelings ground him and don't you _dare_ let him fall apart by blocking yourself from him when you get to your new world."- said Sirius, as glared at Snape, his gaze fierce.

By now Harry had calmed down a little and frowned in thought:

"So you mean I'm ...sort of bound... to Professor Snape's emotions?"

"Err…well, I guess, yeah, you are. Sort of…"-said Sirius, rubbing the back of his head.

Snape frowned, his eyes troubled.

"I'm not very good with emotions, you know that, Black. We also don't get along much. I'm not the best choice for him to be dependant on. I'm sarcastic, bitter and I like to insult people."

"That much I gathered." – Sirius replied dryly. – "Maybe someone will appear later, someone he will trust implicitly. But you are the only one who can ground him for now. You can be by yourselves after familiarizing yourselves with the new world but in case of panic attack or some other emotional trouble only you can calm Harry down. It's impossible to change that. And as I recall, you promised not to abandon him, so are you going to keep your word?"-said Sirius, smirking.

Snape glared at the smirking Sirius, and Harry wondered, once again, if he was hallucinating.

"So it's decided then." – Sirius shifted into lecture mode again. – "As I've already said, you'll have four forms, two human-like: Prima and Secunda, and two Animagi-like: Tria and Quatra. Harry, as the Changed Varnaay you'll keep your wings in Secunda form and can call it forth in Prima, but Varnaay magic will go to Tria form."

"Varnaay?" – Potion Master snapped his head to Harry. – "But Potter is not… oh. Draco…" - he murmured forlornly.

"Eh.. what is Varnaay anyway?" – Harry asked, unsure of what he received from Draco.

"Varnaay, Potter, is a magical creature nearly extinct in the Wizarding World. A long time ago they were known as Sky Lords. They have wings and can call forth wind, rain and lightning. They can also change a wizard into a Varnaay by giving away their own heritage willingly, thus becoming regular wizards. I'm guessing that Draco did that?" – Snape looked at Harry at the end of his explanation.

"Yes." – Harry whispered quietly, lost in memories. – "He did…"

"What are our forms exactly, Black?" – said Snape, trying to distract Harry from his thoughts.

"Hmm. Your Tria form is a feathered, size-changing snake, a Southern Quetzalcoatl. In that form you can paralyze, heal from any poison or put anyone to sleep. Your Quatra form is Dragonae, it can also change sizes. As Dragonae you have ice-breath and rule over ice. You can't change your size very much though, in both forms."

"Harry's Tria form is a Thunder Falcon, now that it's combined with the Varnaay Heritage. Your Varnaay magic belongs now to your falcon-self. Your Quatra form is Shadow Panther." – Sirius stopped suddenly and smirked. – "Actually, it's a kitten for now, at least until you become of age. It can Shadow walk and has sedative in its claws. And that's it."

"Why do my creature forms seem to be more dangerous and powerful than that of Potter?" - Snape furrowed his brows slightly, puzzled.

"Just wait till you see Thunder Falcon in all its glory." – said Sirius, laughing quietly.. - "But you are right, his forms are not as suitable for battle as yours. And seem to be less powerful, though his Secunda form is very intimidating, and his magical strength is on a higher level than yours. Well, I suppose his very nature fits those forms, so they are like that."

Sirius crossed his arms over his chest and gazed for several moments at Harry and Snape.

"I have several more things to say and then you'll be on your way, Snape, Harry. I'm not sure you'll like it all, but there isn't anything I can do."

"First, you'll keep your Occlumency skills, Snape, but Legilimency won't be possible in other worlds. On the other hand, you'll be a Parseltongue like Harry. Your Dark Mark is gone, but it brought Darkness to your soul that can't be healed, so we made Shadow Panther available to your Dragonae form. It means you can manipulate shadows in different ways." - Sirius paused, thinking.

"Now, bad news. You won't know how to use this magic once you do get there. You'll have to figure out by yourselves how to shift into your Secunda, Tria and Quatra forms. Though I'll give you a hint: concentration and acceptance are key elements."

"One more thing: when you get there you'll be in your Prima form, and there will be a delay in understanding that world's language for a full 24 hours. We are not sure if English exists there, so you'll be able to speak the language of that world, but only after one full day after arriving there."

"And Snape. You'll probably arrive in an area with a high concentration of magic, so be careful, as only demons live in such areas. We can't be sure of their intentions because they differ depending on each world. So, just, take care of Harry, you'll have to treat his wounds, don't forget about that. And don't forget to call each other by your new names."

"And that is all I had to say to you, Harry, Severus." – said Sirius, solemnly looking at them.

"Wait, Sirius! Will I see ever you again?!" – Harry cried, trying to reach out to his Godfather.

"Don't worry, kiddo." – Sirius' face softened as he caught Harry's hand with his own and squeezed it lightly. –" I'm always with you, as are your parents, don't forget that. Take care of yourself. Don't give up, Prongslet. And you, Snape, don't despair on Draco's behalf. He's happy where he is right now, and wishes you happiness, as does Lily. So, for once in your life, listen to me, and try not to mourn for past mistakes. They are in the past.

Now, go. Go, and try to be happy."

With those words Snape and Harry felt the falling sensation once again, and Snape grasped Harry more tightly. The whiteness surrounding them began to dim and became fog-like. They closed their eyes and held onto each other hoping for the best. Seconds later, they felt something brushing their face, then something cold going _through_ them (like when a ghost decides to float through you), and suddenly fell with a dull thud on something very hard and cold. Snape had only a moment to open his eyes and look at Harry when overwhelming pain slammed into them like a sledgehammer. Snape tried to shield his own pain behind Occlumency shields, but it wasn't enough. Clenching his teeth he held a screaming Harry to himself, hugging him, and shut his eyes against the pain. He prayed for the pain to go away but it went on and on and on... Through the pain he could feel his and Harry's bodies changing, but the sensation was hazy. "_I knew Black didn't tell us everything_", - but just as Snape cursed that damned mutt in his head, the pain finally stopped. When Snape looked at Harry, he saw that the boy was slumped unconscious against his chest, blood leaking slowly from his wounds. He noticed that Harry looked very differently than he had before, the most prominent change being the striking silvery-white hair and face resembling Lily now, more than James. He carefully put Harry.. _no, it was Desi now_, down on the floor and after removing his own battle robe wrapped the boy gently into it. Only then did he raise his head and look around. "_Dark and bloody cold dungeons, where else would we arrive with that child's luck?_" – Snape thought tiredly. He saw that they were in some sort of room full of strange items, and saw a large mirror near them. Looking at it he felt shiver of cold. It felt ominous and threatening, like the Veil in Department of Mysteries. Like the Veil… oh hell, it was this world's counterpart of Veil. If this mirror was magical, it meant that other things were magical, too. Merlin save them, they were in room full of magical artifacts! And if Veil-like mirror was any indicator, all of them were dangerous. _Only their luck_, sighed Snape bitterly. He heard the echo of running steps coming from behind, and turning back he saw several men in some sort of uniform, resembling military, running towards them with drawn swords through the wide open doors. Suddenly feeling completely exhausted and not being able to move at all, Snape only clutched Harry closer to his chest and stared tiredly at the approaching soldiers, hoping to survive the meeting.

_ **Somewhere else**_

"You think they'll be all right?" - said Lily, chewing on her bottom lip in worry.

"Lily, calm down, it's Snape and Harry we're talking about. They're survivors if nothing else. Of course, they'll be all right." – said Sirius, placing his arm on Lily's shoulder calmingly.

"Why can't we see them now?" – said James, pacing back and forth within the whiteness, his every movement conveying anger.

"The Veil said we can't see them yet. At least for a year, you know that. We agreed to it when we decided to give them so many gifts and one more chance at life."

"I hate it." – Draco grumbled.

"Don't we all?" – sighed Remus. – "But we'll have to wait."

They fell into silence, then exchanged concerned glances.

"You think Snape will guess that we removed some of the blocks on his emotions? And nudged his emotional center?" - James look afraid at the idea itself.

"I pray he won't. Oh there'll be hell to pay, he'll find a way. And Harry may suffer because of that…" - said Remus, looking green.

"But he wouldn't be able to help Harry emotionally otherwise…" - James argued, pouting.

"Let's hope for the best then." – Lily's soft voice made them sigh.

"Yeah, let's hope.." – they repeated a bit mechanically, - "and wait…"

Their figures shimmered away from the view, leaving only an empty vast whiteness behind.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Here it comes! Finally! Our beloved demons are on the scene!

**PLEASE READ THIS!!! ** If you are unfamiliar with Kyou Kara Maou characters, it would be helpful to read notes at the end first. So you would not be confused...

Also, this chapter was betaed by teenwitch18, as were previous two - second and third. She is awesome at this! (So, if you see mistakes in the first chapter, know that I, and only I bear whole responsibility for them... Tell me if you see one)

Disclaimer: Oh, woe is me! To my undying regret and unconsolable heart nor Harry Potter, nor Kyou Kara Maou belong to me. I own nothing except practicing my writing skills and wonderful feeling after reading reviews.

* means "see the notes after chapter"

_'mumble-grumble' _means someone's thoughts.

_**Chapter 4**_

The sun was hanging low in the sky, and The Blood Pledge Castle was quiet; guards silently patrolled in shadowed corridors. Gwendal von Walde* was frowning, busy with paperwork. Again. He looked over a stack of case papers on his desk and sighed. The victory over Soushu*, the being of pure evil, brought peace to their country, and their relations with humans improved greatly. Shin Makoku's* reputation was getting better, and people, for the most part, stopped fearing demons and spitting at their backs in disgust. Still, there were some bandits left, and Yuuri*, the Maou*, was in danger from occasional human assassins. Just several days ago some hateful fanatic snuck into the castle and attacked Heika*. Maou wasn't even injured, _thank _Shinou*, but he was given quiet a scare. Now Gwendal was in charge of investigating that case, as usual, while Konrart and Wolfram, his younger brothers, went to deal with some new band of marauders that emerged on the borders with human lands, and Yuuri was stuck with Günter studying Shin Makoku's ancient traditions and history. Greta, Yuuri's adopted daughter, was visiting Nicola and Hubert, so the castle seemed almost empty.

Gwendal narrowed his eyes as he looked over the petition before him. It was the second time this particular village had asked to be allowed not to pay taxes because of a bad harvest.

_'Interesting. Perhaps I should send someone there to look into problem_. _The weather wasn't that bad, so it has to be another reason.' _he thought, setting the paper aside and grabbed the next document, ready to read it, when a bloodcurdling scream, definitely male, echoed from within the depths of the castle. Startled, Gwendal dropped the paper. Scream meant danger. Danger in the castle meant danger to Maou. Not thinking any further, the Demon Army Commander sprinted out of his office with his sword drawn. As he ran he shouted at the guards, ordering them to follow him. One of the guards was sent for back-up and checking on Heika and Günter.

The scream was coming from the lowest part of the castle, where the Treasure Room was.

_'Maybe some fool tried to steal something, and Shinou only knows what happened to him,'_ Gwendal mused. The room was full of dangerous magical artifacts after all, and few of them were harmless, though almost none were a risk for life. As he got nearer he could discern that the scream belonged to someone young. What could happen to cause such pain in that piercing, haunting scream? Suddenly it stopped. The silence seemed deafening after the impossibly loud and long cry of pain. Just a few more turns… Back-up showed up from the next corridor, and together they barged into Treasure Room with their swords at the ready. The sight before them made Gwendal stop dead in surprise.

On the floor in front of Makagami* were two humans: one was a young boy, about Yuuri's age, now unconscious, but definitely the one that screamed, and the other was a man in his thirties sitting on the floor and holding the said boy in his arms. The man stared at them unblinkingly and with what seemed to be a resignation in his eyes. _'Just what did in Shinou's name happen here?'_

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" – Gwendal asked, cautious, for it was rather difficult to see all the details in the darkness of the treasure room. – "Answer immediately."

The man seemed to be confused for a moment, then his mouth twisted into a semi-bitter smile, and he said something in a strange–sounding language.

Gwendal frowned. Did this man not understand common speech? '_Strange._' He thought everyone could speak it. He felt that they were nearly the same as the usual humans, albeit they had a feeling of underlying magic. '_Were they human sorcerers?_' Gwendal couldn't see them clearly, though he could see that the boy had blond hair, while the man was dark–haired.

Suddenly something caught his attention. '_Is that blood on the man's hands?_' thought Gwendal as he sheathed his sword, deciding that they were no danger at this time. He then gestured to blood on the hands of the man, looking at him questioningly. The man understood his silent question but seemed unsure of something. After hesitating for a couple of seconds, he finally came to some decision, and holding the boy with one hand, carefully unfolded the boy's robe. Gwendal took a sharp intake of breath at what he saw.

There were deep cuts and burns on the boy's body that were bleeding profusely. Hearing a gasp behind him Gwendal turned and saw Yuuri hovering at the entrance of the room. Apparently Heika decided not to wait to find out what had happened here.

"Call Gisela and her staff immediately to the second room on the main floor," - barked Gwendal to the nearest soldier. He then he approached the humans warily and gestured with a picking up motion to the boy. Understanding his intent the man seemed to be torn between complying and holding the boy to himself. Seconds ticked by, and finally the man nodded his head in agreement. Gwendal took the boy into his own arms and told soldiers to help the man to rise onto his feet. When the man stood up swaying slightly, Gwendal turned and started for the room where he said to call Gisela to. Behind his back he could hear soldiers helping the man to follow him, and Heika being calmed down by Günter. Yuuri was asking worriedly if the boy would be alright. Günter tried to lead him away, but knowing Heika's stubbornness Gwendal told over his shoulder that Yuuri could follow them, but had to be silent if he did. Yuuri quickly agreed and followed silently after them, Günter at his side.

When they reached the room, Gisela had already prepared water and all the necessary things were set out and stood in the doorway with her assistants, waiting for them to arrive. The moment he appeared in her view she rushed to him and told him to put the boy on the bed. The man gingerly sat on the corner of the same bed, refusing to move anywhere else. Gisela's assistants tended to the man, while Gisela herself was occupied with the boy. Gwendal used that time to study humans intently, now that they were in brightly lit room.

The man seemed to be in his thirties, and seemed to be as tall as Gwendal himself. He had pale skin and the strangest hair Gwendal has ever seen. It was made up of two colours: black with flame-red strands. How could a human possess such hair? It fell down the man's back in slight waves and looked to be silky to the touch. _'Maybe the man and boy are from Yuuri's world?'_ But they _did _ feel like humans, and humans _couldn't _ travel between worlds by themselves…

On the other hand, the man had black eyes as well. No human in their world had black hair and eyes, only rare Mazoku*. Like Yuuri, for example. '_Had someone sent them here? Why then?_'

The boy had strange hair also. It was snowy white with a silvery tint to it. Looking closer Gwendal widened his eyes. They were not blond white! They were white because they turned grey! '_What in Shinou's name happened to that boy?_' His skin was chalky white, and you could count his ribs; yes, he was definitely starved, and Shinou only knows what else. '_Hmm, was that man the one to do it to the boy? Or maybe not, considering the worry in his eyes when he is looking at the boy_', - decided Gwendal. He turned to Gisela:

"What can you say about boy's condition?"

"He was tortured a lot," - Gisela answered darkly, her face clouded with anger. – "For days, judging by his body's condition. Though most of the wounds are only several hours old. This is strange. Why would his body react as if it was tortured for days and I'd say even weeks, but the oldest wound he has is only ten hours old? And the wounds themselves are not normal. Too clean and wide to be knife or sword wounds, but somehow too sharp to be anything else. Some of the burns are from something acid-like, some from the fire, and some I can't even tell. He'll need a lot of healing, but he'll be alright eventually. What worries me more is the shock from the pain he's suffering right now. It apparently made him scream and I have no idea what caused it. There is no nerve damage, nothing… I just… I don't know," - said Gisela, shaking her head in frustration.

"What about the man?" – Gwendal asked, turning to Gisela's assistant.

"Well, he's relatively healthy, though I do detect some signs of slight starvation. He is unusually exhausted and had the same pain attack as the boy, but he's recovering his energy unusually fast."

"What?!" – Gwendal yelled, his jaw dropping in surprise. – "The same pain attack? But he wasn't screaming."

"Hmm, his body tells he was in pain. Maybe he's more resilient… That would explain the rate that he's regaining energy ."

Gwendal looked at the man and saw that he paid no attention to their conversation whatsoever. The human was looking at the boy's face with shock and wonder in his eyes, and was it gratefulness in his eyes? Just as Gwendal decided to find out their names by means of gestures and signs if needed, Gisela exclaimed:

"Oh, it seems like he's coming to."

Gwendal snapped his head in the boy's direction and saw frightened black eyes looking back at him. Black eyes again… Were they or were they not humans? The boy was searching the room with his eyes and seemed not to recognize the man that he was found with.

"Dessssi…" - he heard the man say to the boy, and panicked eyes snapped to the man. The boy asked something uncertainly, and when the man nodded slightly, launched himself at the man and hid his face in the man's chest, his body trembling. The man hugged him, bewildered at what was happening judging from his face, and was saying something in a calming manner. The boy then mumbled something into the man's chest and the human stilled. Then he turned his eyes to them with obvious distrust and suspicion. He flinched away from Gisela and her assistants when they tried to come closer, and then the strangest thing happened. The man began to hiss at the boy.

A/N: These notes are useful for those who haven't seen or read Kyou Kara Maou.

Soushu - the main enemy of Yuuri, and the demons (and humans as well). The personification of all negative and dark feelings, emotions and deeds, was defeated partly by Shinou and then finally byYuuri.

Shinou - the Original Demon King of Shin Makoku who founded it. He was immensely powerful and sneaky guy, and liked jokes. Lived several thousands years ago, but his spirit was entombed along with Soushu to keep Soushu's evil from spreading. After Yuuri finished off Soushu, Shinou's spirit became free and began to wander Shin Makoku, creating havoc (well, for the sake of jokes, sort of like the Marauders), and generally have fun.

Shin Makoku - (lit.) New Demon Country. Name of the country where Yuuri rules and demons live.

Maou - (lit.) Demon King

Mazoku - (lit.) demon, demon race

Heika - (lit.) Your Majesty

Makagami - (lit.) Demon Mirror, artefact created by Shinou, all purposes unclear.

Yuuri Shibuya - was a regular Japanese high-schooler, then when he was 15 years old, was sent through a portal to Shin Makoku, where it turned out he was the pre-destined Maou. His father turned out to be a demon of Earth, subject to Earth Maou who was a descendant from Shin Makoku's demons. Well, all Earth demons were from Shin Makoku originally. Yuuri's older brother is destined to be Earth Maou. So, in Shin Makoku Yuuri tried to befriend humans and has several close advisors and friends in his court. Yuuri has black hair and eyes which are considered to be the sign of great demonic power and are so rare that you can go all your life never meeting one. Humans don't have them at all in this world, so poor Yuuri has to wear a wig and contact lenses while traveling in human countries. Also he adopted small girl named Greta, human, right after her assassination attempt on him.

Gwendal von Walde - Demon Army Commander, son of previous Maou, Cecilie von Spitzweg (Cheri-sama). Frowns a lot, knits toy animals for relaxation (but one can never be sure which animal it's supposed to be), loves cute things. Has two younger brothers: Conrart Weller and Wolfram von Bielefeld.

Gȕnter von Christ – advisor for the Maou. One strange demon, with peculiar habits but astonishingly gorgeous. Little is known about him: High Magic user, excellent swordmaster, doesn't like bloodshedding. Known for his unshakeable love towards Maou, and expressive nature. Has daughter named Gisela.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: My sincere apologies for the delay in update, but my college life demanded some time for tests and assignments, but here I am, finally!

The following chapter was reviewed by teenwitch18, who has my gratefullness and should have yours, too, or you would be stuck with my numerous mistakes and unrefined language. Heh-heh..

Disclaimer: I proudly own...(THUMP) ...ow ow ow..OK..OK..(I'll get you one day, my tiran-like conscience!) I don't own Harry Potter or Kyou Kara Maou, cause someone already created them, and it's not me (silently weeping ensues)

_**Chapter 5**_

Snape berated himself for his sudden exhaustion as soldiers with their swords bared surrounded him and Ha-_Desi_. Not that if he were able to move it would do a lot of good to him. Harry, err.. _Desi_ lay in his arms and couldn't defend himself. Magic was unavailable, and he had nothing to fight against swords with. So he could only count on these people's mercy right now. Snape wasn't used to such situations; the only time he ever felt like this before was about seventeen years ago when he came to Dumbledore offering himself as a spy, hoping to protect Lily.

One of the soldiers, their commander it seemed, asked something in unknown language, looking rather threatening with his sword pointing at Snape. "_Oh yeah, so much for understanding"_, - Snape thought, his lips curving into a bitter smile. "I don't understand you." - he said all the same to the soldier who knitted his brows together in frown after hearing Snape's reply. Then something on Snape's hands attracted soldier's attention and he sheathed his sword. After that the soldier pointed at Snape's hands with a questioning expression on his face. Snape looked down at his hands and saw that they were covered in Ha-_Desi_'s blood. "_Oh Merlin, Desi's wounds! They need treatment! But will these people help him?" _Well, it's not as if he had a lot of choice, the Potion Master thought, arguing against himself. He just had to trust them for now.

Coming to that decision, Snape unwrapped the robe on Desi and closely observed the soldier's reaction. Hmm, it seemed they were safe, if that sharp voice was any indication. Snape himself used that tone often when calling for Poppy when some dunderhead was injured during Potions.

Meanwhile the soldier's leader approached Snape slowly and made a move as if to take Desi from Snape's arms. "_That is more serious, should I allow it?"_ Snape thought furiously. Desi would be separated from Snape, but right now Snape couldn't carry him or even stand without support. _No choice again, it seems_. He nodded his head and allowed the soldier to take Desi from him. After that he was helped to his feet by some of the other soldiers and stood unsteadily wondering what was going to happen next. He didn't have to wait long for answer, as the soldier's leader proceeded out of the room with Desi in his arms, careful not to go too fast, so that Snape would be able to follow him even if it was with help. On his way the soldier's commander said something to a black-haired boy whom Snape had just noticed. "_Huh, what is a child doing here? Is he that man's son? And who Is that man beside the boy?"_ Snape did a double-take. _ "Is his hair lilac? Is that even possible? Normal? Perhaps it is_," he mused to himself. " _It is a different world after all."_

Their destination revealed itself as a large sunny room with a huge bed with drapes near a window. At the entrance stood a young woman with strikingly green hair. _Green? First violet, now green. "What in Merlin's name?"_ The woman made the soldier put Desi on the bed and started to clean his wounds and… "..._are her hands glowing? Hmm, are they this world's counterparts of wizards? That would explain the hair, at least."_

Snape refused to be separated from Desi and sat on the same bed with caution. The green-haired woman's helpers began to check on him too, much to his displeasure. _Well, it can't be helped_, thought Snape, sighing. He made a quick assessment of all the people in the room. Hmm, the soldier's commander, tall and broad-shouldered, in a green uniform, with long dark grey hair and impossibly dark-blue eyes. Indigo, was that the name of the colour? - wondered Snape. The boy had black hair and black eyes, not very tall, and definitely Japanese-looking. Not this man's son then, unless his mother was Japanese. Hmm, one more tall man with lilac hair and eyes, dressed in a white coat. He and the soldier's chief were of the same age it seemed. Content for now with his observation, Snape turned to Desi, and studied the boy's face in wonder. With the part of his mind not focused on Desi, he could hear the soldier commander and healers speaking between themselves, but couldn't tear his eyes from Desi's face. He had Lily's nose and cheekbones now, and her shape of the face, even her ears. The hair was James' still, though white now. But the same short messy hair as always. And his skin was alabaster-white, not tanned like before. Or was it like that from his time in the dungeons? Nonetheless, Snape was grateful to see more of Lily in Desi. "_Is it her gift to Desi? Or to me?" - _he mused.

The healer woman cried in excitement and Snape saw Desi's eyes open all of sudden. The boy looked confused as if he was searching the room for something. His eyes landed on Snape but didn't stay on him as if he hasn't recognized his Professor. "Dessssi", - Snape called to the boy, and saw black frightened eyes turn back to him. _Black?!!!_ His own eyes were looking back at him! While Snape tried to overcome sudden wave of shock and incomprehension, the Gryffindor asked him in puzzlement: "Professor?" Receiving a nod from the still dazed man, the boy threw himself at the former Head of Slytherin. He clutched at Snape and was on the verge of going into panic attack, shaking in fear. "They are not humans. I can feel they are not humans.", - he mumbled into Snape's chest. The Slytherin froze, and looked again at the people in the room. _He knew it! He suspected it! No normal human would have lilac or green hair no matter what world!_ _And if they were not humans it meant they were demons! How could I forget it?_ Because Black said that the world would be inhabited with demons, or demons and humans both. When Snape saw soldiers he decided they appeared within human domain, but obviously demons were more human-like than Snape thought it to be possible. _Where_ _are their horns? Their hooves? Their fangs, at least? _ Just some strange hair colour and an unusual deepness to their eyes. Not much considering… Maybe they were not like demons of their realm? Still Snape edged away from that healer woman when she tried to approach him. Potion Master turned to Desi and deciding not to risk it (who knows, maybe they _do_ understand English) concentrated on the image of a snake in his mind and began hissing to Desi in Parseltongue.

"Calm down, Desi. They haven't hurt us so far. I suppose they are not like the demons of our realm, though I am uncertain. Can you feel their emotions? Do they mean us harm? And what is the reason for your staring at me like that?" - Snape asked, rather unsure of what to do, as he held Harry carefully. It would be disastrous to disturb his wounds further...

"You called me Desi, Professor. And I just thought that, well, I don't know what to call you. And your hair has red stripes and is long. Like down to the middle of your back long. And your nose is straight and not big now. And have I really just said that? And I haven't tried to read their emotions yet. And was it a dream, meeting Sirius in the Veil? Maybe I'm dreaming now… Wait, I know… I finally snapped, didn't I? Voldemort won and I'm insane or dead, or…" - Harry babbled nervously, unable to stop.

"Desi!" – Snape interrupted him finally, recovering from the onslaught of frantically hissed words. – "You are not insane, it's not a dream, and it wasn't a dream, about the Veil. You can call me whatever you like now. Though, well, I'm not a Professor anymore, and we share the same last name. Hmm, it would be difficult to call you by your full name now", - Snape chuckled.

"I didn't know I had red stripes in my hair, or that my nose was changed. But you do remember Black told us that they would alter our appearances, don't you? You've changed as well. And by the way, your eyes are black now, Mr. ….Amun'Narayn. Like mine. So it would seem we share more than a name now. I suspect it was Lily's doing. Well, if that is her wish, as I think it is, you can call me Uncle…whatever name you like best."

"U-u-uncle Soteres then. But why "Uncle"? What does my Mum's wish have to do with it?" – Harry asked, puzzled.

"Your mother was my best friend in school, Desi. And was even before that. However, though I loved your mother more than anyone else in the world, she always saw me only as her brother, nothing more. She told me quite often that she wished I was her brother, but alas… And then I got into a fight with her over your father, and we never again talked to each other. I went and became Death Eater, and she refused to talk to me. I tried to protect her from Voldemort later, but... you know how it ended…"

"I'm sorry, U-uncle Soteres." – Harry said, trying out how Snape's new name sounded on his tongue and liked it. – "Does it mean we are family now?"

Snape frowned, unsure of the answer.

"If that is what you want, Desi. I...know that I treated you horribly in school, which I sincerely regret now. Can you forgive me?"

"Of course," - Harry said, smiling happily. Then he remembered where they were. – "Oh! Demons! I forgot about them…"

"Right, demons." – said Snape, also remembering his surroundings. He looked around and saw that all people in the room were staring at them with their mouths opened in astonishment. Even the soldier's commander was gaping with his jaw on the floor. "_Guess they don't have Parseltongue here"_, chuckled Snape in his mind. Then he turned to Desi again.

"So, what can you say about their emotions?"

"Ahh, they are very surprised right now." - Harry tried to concentrate on each of demons separately. – "That …errr... guy in the military uniform with the sword is... well, surprised, and a bit wary, and confused, and worried. He is angry as well though I can't say with what. And the lilac-haired man is almost the same. He is interested in …ahh... your hairs, though, Uncle Soteres. A lot. And the woman with green hairs is surprised, but worried about us and... Also angry a lot, though I can't understand why… And the boy with black hair, he's… he's…." – Harry trailed off.

"What?" – Snape looked Desi into the eyes with worry. – "What about that boy?"

"He's so pure…" - whispered Harry finally, – "How can a demon be so pure? He is worried for us, with not even a tiny bit of fear, or anger, or hesitation. He wants to help us so much that it almost hurts. And his desire to protect all those around him... It is almost the same as mine was there, on the battlefield. Or maybe even stronger. How do you measure that desire?" – Harry looked at Snape not expecting an answer. – "We can trust them, I think. That demon boy feels like someone important, so he won't let anything happen to us. We are safe, I'm sure."

"All right, I'll trust your judgment in that, Desi." – said Snape, as he smoothed the hairs on boy's head. Desi's forehead was cold to his touch, the skin a bit clammy, and the boy was sweating. – "After all, you are an Empath here. You seem exhausted, however, so sleep."

"OK, uncle Soteres. But don't leave me, please." – Harry pleaded in child-like manner. – "Even if I trust them, I want you to be close."

"Very well, Desi. I'll be by your side, don't worry. Now sleep."

When Desi slumped in his arms semi-unconscious, semi-asleep within moments, Snape placed him on the bed carefully, so as not to awaken him again. Although, exhausted as he was, there was a very small chance for Desi waking right now. A pack of howling werewolves could run through the room, and Desi probably wouldn't even stir , Snape smiled amused. He, on the other hand, felt suddenly stronger. "_Good thing that"_, - he thought, - "_as it's time to face the music_." He turned to still gaping demons, rising to his full height with arms crossed on the chest, and raised one eyebrow.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: I'm sorry that this chapter is a bit shorter than usual, but I've decided that when you try to squeeze your muse for more words, the result is mangled. So, quality over quantity? Right?

I give my thanks to my beta teenwitch18, who checked this chapter fast for me, and send her my best wishes!

Disclaimer: I have no right of ownership on Harry Potter. Kyou Kara Maou also doesn't belong to me. Oh, woe is me...

_**Chapter 6**_

Gwendal never thought he would ever witness such a strange thing. The man and the boy hissed at each other in what looked distinctly like a conversation. How can you talk with hisses? _Was it some code? Maybe it was a decoy and they communicated by some other means right now?_ Both "humans" were enraptured with their 'talk' and paid no heed to present people, them that is. Though that was good, Gwendal supposed, as they could only gape at these humans, not able to speak properly. Then the boy remembered his whereabouts, it seemed. He looked around cautiously, and when the man asked him something (well, he hissed something, but there was questioning lilt to it), the boy turned his head in their direction and his eyes bored into each one of them. Gwendal felt uneasy under such an intense scrutiny for all his stoic nature.

These eyes seemed to stare into his very soul, and that, in and of itself, was disconcerting. _Was he a danger to them? To Maou?_ And what made him go grey at such young age? Gwendal felt anger thinking about that. _Children should be protected, not tortured. What if that had happened to Yuuri?_ Gwendal vowed to himself to find out everything about that boy. Said boy, in the meanwhile, hissed something to the man after staring at each of the present demons, though he hesitated after looking at Yuuri.

He then hissed something quietly and the man seemed content with whatever the boy had hissed. The man stroked the boy's head hissing something gently, and the child hissed something in reply, almost whining; immediately after that the child fell asleep in man's arms, and was laid on the bed by the man. After doing that the man turned to them rising with a dignified aura around him. Huh, he really recovered unusually quickly. The human crossed his arms over his chest and looked at them with a raised eyebrow. Well, at least he didn't have that distrustful look on his face anymore, though a slight wariness still lurked in his eyes.

Gwendal decided that now was the time to find out their guests' names at last. Having no other means of communication other than gestures, he pointed to himself and said clearly:

"Gwendal von Walde."

Then to Günter.

"Günter von Christ."

Yuuri decided to participate as well and presented himself.

"Shibuya Yuuri."

Gisela also caught on.

"Gisela."

The man understood what they wanted but didn't answer at once. Instead he muttered something unintelligible to himself raising his eyes to the ceiling, and shook his head in apparent amusement. When Gwendal started becoming impatient, the human looked back at them, dropping one arm to his side and touching his chest with the other, pronouncing clearly:

"Mehtar Ehren Soteres Anarawd Eskil Vemados Amun'Narayn." – he paused for a moment, then added. – "Eskil."

Then Eskil, or whatever his impossibly long name was, glanced in the direction of the boy and seemed a bit startled to see Gisela already fussing over the boy, and spoke, articulating the words again:

"Desi Leif Arden Ramiel Anestes Simha Amun'Narayn."

However he said nothing else suddenly looking unsure. Gwendal decided to nudge him. "Eskil." – he stated pointing to human, then pointing to the boy tilted slightly his head to the side as if asking. Eskil just shrugged and then gestured between himself and people in the room and said: "Eskil", then gestured between boy and himself and said: "Soteres - Desi". Then he gestured between boy and others and shrugged his shoulders again as if puzzled.

"I think he's trying to tell that the boy has to give a shortened version of his name by himself. Well, I don't think that should be a problem now. The boy is asleep anyway." – Günter said, correctly interpreting the signs. Well, he _was_ a royal councilor, wasn't he? He had to be smart.

In the mean time, the human walked up to the window and looked outside. His gaze went over the castles inner yard, over the flying skeletons (without even batting an eyelash) and he turned back to the people in the room. While he was standing there bathed in sunlight, Gwendal used the opportunity to inspect him again. The human had long black hair with red highlights falling till his mid-back in silky waves, now slightly dishevelled, his stature was that of a proud noble, with a slightly dangerous quality to it. His steps were silent and measured like those of an experienced fighter, but his hands were slender and delicate, and showed no sign of ever holding a sword, or any kind of weapon known to Gwendal. That was unusual, _how did the man defend himself?_ Perhaps he _was_ in fact, a sorcerer.

Gwendal stared wonderingly at the man, not knowing how to question him without using a spoken language. _Well, he could ask, _he sarcastically thought to himself, _but would he understand the answer? _ The human seemed to understand that as well, and lowered his head in deep contemplation. Five minutes later he looked up suddenly at Gwendal and smiled. He motioned to Gwendal to come closer to the window, and when Gwendal cautiously approached him, showed to the sun with his hand and then made a circle in the air with his hand. Then he paused again, and then gestured to himself and pretended to speak, then made the same gesture towards Gwendal and after that pointed to his and Gwendal's ears and smiled making the face of comprehension. Then Eskil looked questioningly at Gwendal. The demon army Commander turned to Maou hearing the impatient sounds made by a shuffling Yuuri.

"I think he's asking to wait for a day and that then we'll be able to understand each other." – Yuuri said, clapping his hands enthusiastically. - "I don't think they are a threat to us, Gwendal. Günter, what do you think?"

"Heika! Oh, such a compassionate nature you are, and asking my opinion, such an honor! Of course, I agree with you, Heika! And that man has such gorgeous hair, and with his name so elaborate and long, he can't be bad! O-o-ohhh, I think, I'm going to pass out now." – Günter swayed in ecstasy, blinking rapidly.

"Günter!" - Gwendal said, exasperated. Günter and his antics! Then nodded to Heika. – "Very well, I'll leave them now though I suppose they could be hungry. I'll order someone to bring them food and some clean clothes."

While Günter dragged a protesting Yuuri to his office with dusty manuscripts again, Gwendal attempted to explain to Eskil not to leave the room, and that soon food would be brought. He also showed all conveniences in the room, including water in a pitcher and chamber pot. Then Gwendal left, resigned not to satiate his curiosity for a while, but he assigned guards outside the room and one inside, as Gisela refused to leave boy's side. He had a lot of unfinished paperwork yet, so he would find what to busy himself with till tomorrow evening. He had yet to send a letter to Conrart and Wolfram informing them about the unexpected visitors. Maybe they'll return by the end of the time Eskil asked for. Now he had some papers to read over.

His steps echoed in the corridors as he went to his own office, already deep in thought about Shin Makoku's current problems.

A/N: For those of you, who doubt a grown-up man can behave himself as Günter does, believe it! He really can and does! He is unique^_^ But don't underestimate him because of that - he is freaky dangerous as well!

And people...really... About Gwendal's name... I already explained it once, but oh... well... His name exists in two variants: von Walde, and von Voltaire. I checked, really... And as most of names, his included are German, and culture is often pro-German, but von Voltaire is pro-French, I've decided to go with von Walde, which is PRO-GERMAN! By the way, means "of Forest". And he has forest-green uniform, so it suits him more!


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: I'm sorry for the waiting, but college life is not easy in the spring, and there were several family emergencies plus work on weekends - one hell of a life.

I send my gratefulness to my beta teenwitch18, who looked over this chapter for me, and wish her fast recovery! Be well!

And read the notes at the end of the chapter those who didn't see KKM! Info about Konrart Weller!

Disclaimer: I have no ownership of Harry Potter. Kyou Kara Maou also doesn't belong to me. (beating my head on the wall - why? why? why can't I own them? ...go to cry in the corner)

_**Chapter 7**_

"It looks like the soldier in charge decided to take matters into his own hands and find out our names, using the universal language of signs as nothing else worked", mused Snape. Hearing their names he mumbled to himself "Black, couldn't you give us normal _short_ names, for Merlin's sake… Damn, what a mouthful…". Then imagined these people's faces after finding out their names and mirth overcame him momentarily. After he got a hold of himself, he decided that enough was enough, no delaying the inevitable, and told the demons his name, clearly enunciating every sound. Looking at their dumbfounded faces he took pity on them and pointing at himself again, said: "Eskil". Then repeated the same with Desi's name except giving the short name. This military guy, Gwendal, was it, seemed to want to know a short name for Desi as well, however, Snape was uncertain what name Desi would like to go by here. So he told by pointing and gesturing that Desi had to give a short name to them himself. Meanwhile, curious about this place, Snape went to the window and glanced outside.

Hmm, everything seems normal… not counting the flying skeletons, but Thestrals were no less intimidating, and really, after Voldemort's Inferi, whom could these skeletons impress?

Everything else seemed to be perfect: blue sky, green grass and warm weather. Castle-like castle. _Not Hogwarts though, but_ … Better not to think about that one.

Snape turned back to the demons and saw Gwendal staring at him thoughtfully. _What are they staring at? _ _Have they never seen humans?_ And how were they going to speak to each other? Perhaps he could convince them to wait for twenty four hours. _But how?_ Snape played with several ideas in his mind but gave them up. That one would look just ridiculous while that one would be hard to understand. Finally Snape picked one idea that looked manageable, and motioned to Gwendal asking him to come closer. Gwendal complied, still a bit wary, and Snape pointed at the sun and then drew a circle in the air. Then he made a spectacle of him and Gwendal talking and, what's more, understanding each other. Gwendal seemed to catch the meaning of his show, but still looked at the black-haired boy, Uri Shibua. Or something like that.. Uri, if that was his name, was speaking quickly, seemingly trying to convince Gwendal of something, then turned to the lilac-haired man and seemed to ask for something. Seeing the reaction of the man, Snape made a step back startled. Just what was asked from that man to make him sway in happiness like some… some swooning girl over Witch Weekly's photo of a semi-naked Potter? Snape shuddered, remembering Desi's words about that man's obsession with Snape's hair. _Not good. No, no, definitely not good. _

The soldier commander named Gwendal shouted something at the swaying man, and Günter, well Snape hoped he remembered it correctly, left the room with an unhappy looking Uri. Gwendal then proceeded to show to Snape that he should stay in the room (_as if I have somewhere to go_,) Snape snorted in his mind, (_not that I could even think about leaving Desi_), and that something to eat would be given to them soon. _Food would be appreciated_, Snape decided, considering that the last time he ate was a day and half ago with all the battle preparations and potion-brewing for the Hospital Wing. And Merlin only knows when was the last time Desi ate. _Hmm, clothes wouldn't hurt either. And sleep_. Snape hadn't slept for three days, surviving on Energy Potions alone.

Gwendal left, leaving two guards outside and one inside, as the healer named Gisela refused to leave Desi's side, bandaging his wounds and checking on his temperature and pulse.

Snape stood at the window for some time, then walked around the room, studying the walls and decorations. On the wall between the bed and the door he saw a large, old looking mirror with, what looked like, a heavy frame. Slightly apprehensive, Snape slowly walked up to it, dreading to see Black's definition of "altering " their "appearance to a degree". Especially after seeing Desi's new hair and eyes. _If I have Potter's eyes, or worse, Black's, I'll find a way to get back at him_, Snape vowed with determination. _On the other hand, Potter's eyes aren't that bad..._

He stood before his reflection, silent and unmoving. _That is a rather large change._ Snape thought, as he studied his face with shock. Merlin, he looked to be in his thirties. In his early thirties. _Well, technically, I'm thirty-six_, he thought sadly. But life of a spy didn't agree with his looks in reality. He looked to be in his mid-forties during the Final Battle. Now all the wrinkles were gone; his skin was a healthy looking white, not sickly pale with a yellowish tint to it. His hair was indeed long now, with red highlights sparkling in the sunlight. His hair wasn't greasy anymore, but silky. He looked normal, not like the "dungeon bat" as the students liked to call him behind his back, foolishly thinking that he didn't know about it. Suddenly feeling lightheaded, he went to the empty armchair near the bed and fell onto it. _We really are different now. _He thought, dazed._ No more manipulative Headmasters, no Ministry, no Azkaban, no Voldemort hanging over my, no, our heads… We are free to be what we want to be…Even in this room, confined to it as we are for now, in an unknown castle with uncertain future hanging before us, I feel the most free I've ever felt. _A lone tear slid down his cheek, unnoticed by it's creator.

He needed sleep; that he knew for sure. Energy was at his disposal, but it was gained by potions, and though their travel exhausted it for a while, a potion influenced the mind, not the body. Now his body was demanding its well deserved rest, without regard to his mind, or anything else for that matter. Deciding not to wait for the food, Snape watched Gisela working for several minutes, and finally feeling it was safe to sleep in her presence and trust Desi's wellbeing to her, he closed his eyes and fell into a deep dreamless sleep.

Some time later, Gisela quietly left the room and went to report her findings to Gwendal. She knocked on the door of Gwendal's office, and entered after the short-barked invitation.

"So, did you find anything else?" - Gwendal asked, looking up from the paperwork on his desk.

"There is something. The boy is recovering much faster than I expected. And his energy signature is different from anything I've ever encountered. He feels like a human, but, at the same time, there are some anomalies. I can't explain it really. Then there is that man…"

"What about him?" - Gwendal interrupted, narrowing his eyes in suspicion. - "He didn't try to hurt you, did he?"

"No, he behaved… but something worried me. He spent a lot of time before a mirror, studying his reflection, then he sat in a chair and he, well... he cried. I … I don't think he even realized he was crying. He was so deep in his thoughts. He fell asleep like that. I'm a healer, Gwendal-san, but I sense I can't help them to heal fully, and that frustrates me. I want to know what happened to them."

"I understand, Gisela. But we have to wait for now. You can go rest for awhile now." - Gwendal knitted his brows in a frown. - "Konrart and Wolfram will probably arrive tomorrow afternoon, they might have wounded soldiers after their fight with the bandits. I want you fully rested, Gisela, so go, rest."

"All right. Oh, and by the way, I'm pretty sure that they'll sleep for most of tommorow. I'm not exactly sure of that, but my last check on them left me in that impression. They will be very hungry when they do wake up." - after saying that, Gisela exited the office and tiredly started up for her own room, already half-asleep.

True to her words, the humans did in fact sleep for the whole night, and all of the next day. Conrart had already arrived, though without Wolfram. As it turned out, the band they fought was a part of another, so Wolfram had to stay and deal with them, all the while grumbling about the unfairness of it all, and Yuuri cheating on him while his fiancée was away. Conrart promised him to look after Heika and was sternly told not to rush into fights without assessing his enemy first, knowing well the hot-headed nature of the blond Mazoku. Now Conrart was at the dining table, observing Yuuri who was biting his lips in anxiety. Conrart briefly talked with Gisela and visited the sleeping humans, so he understood Heika's worry. These humans were indeed unusual and Conrart was interested in their origins and past.

"What if we don't understand each other still, when they wake up, Conrad?" - Yuuri fidgeted with his fork. - "How can we help them if we don't know anything about them?"

"Don't worry, Heika. I'm sure everything will be all right." - said Conrart, smiling at Yuuri's antics.

"Don't call me Heika, Conrad." - Yuuri said, scowling at him.

"Very well, Yuuri." - Conrart secretly smiled, enjoying their argument.

Gwendal was eating without one word as usual, just frowning sometimes, and Günter was in day-dreaming again, sighing at whatever it was that he was thinking about.

The sun was setting and the humans still hadn't awaken. Gisela assured them all that that was normal, and no, they weren't ill, well, not feverish or in a coma, that is. They were just in need of sleep, a great amount of it, at that. The boy was in both great physical and mental distress, and the man suffered intense mental fatigue, it seemed, and both had experienced shock from great amounts of pain. Recovering from that would require a lot of sleep.

The very next morning, one of the guards assigned to watch the humans, finally reported to Gwendal, informing him that one of the humans were awake. Assuming that the man was the one who had awaken, Gwendal ordered the guard to bring Conrart, Günter, Yuuri and Gisela to the room where the humans were, and went there himself. Five minutes later they all gathered together and Gwendal pushed the doors to the room open. He entered first, determined not to leave the room until he found out more about their mysterious visitors, the others quickly following him into the room. However, he saw the sleeping man in the chair still, and an empty bed. Surprised, he glanced around the room and noticed the boy standing still before the mirror. _What is it with these humans and mirrors_, he thought, perplexed.

The boy snapped his head in their direction and took a step back. Piercing obsidian eyes bore into them with wariness. Now that he was up and standing, he didn't seem so child-like anymore. He was taller than Yuuri and almost as high as Gwendal himself. His weak state was what gave him the impression of child-likeness. But Gwendal could see now, that this was no child. No child could have that look of a cornered animal that made him look, almost, dangerous.

Gwendal tried to seem less intimidating, unsure how to deal with this boy. He raised his arms in a, hopefully, placating manner, hoping that his intentions would be understood.

"We don't mean you any harm!" - Gwendal said, praying that his rough voice wouldn't startle the boy. Somehow he thought that the currently sleeping man wouldn't be too pleased to wake up to find the boy scared.

"I'm not afraid." - the boy retorted, defensive, but he noticeably relaxed. _Wait_. He understood them! And replied in their language! The man told the truth then, about waiting for a day… But why couldn't they understand each other when they first met?

"What is your name?" - Conrart asked in a gentle, yet firm, voice only he could master. The perfect voice for calming people, in other words.

"Short name." - Yuuri quickly added. - "Eskil-san told us your full name, but he …err…showed you'll have to give the shortended version yourself."

"Eskil-san?" - the boy seemed confused at first, then his face cleared in understanding. - "Oh! You mean U-u-uncle Soteres! Ermm… I suppose you could call me Ramiel."

"Ramiel then." - Gwendal nodded to himself, then motioned to others. - "I'm Gwendal Von Walde, you can call me Gwendal; that's Günter von Christ, or Günter for short; this is Conrart Weller, you can call him Conrart, or Conrad like Yuuri does. And that's Shibuya, Yuuri, the Maou, and Gisela, Günter's daughter."

Ramiel stared intensely at the Maou, like one would at an amazing wonder he'd never thought he'd be able to see. Conrart didn't like that look and inched forward ready to protect Yuuri in case of danger. Ramiel noticed this and smiled sheepishly, suddenly loosing that air of danger around him.

"I'm sorry. I've just never met anyone like him. And what is that, the Maou I mean?"

"That's all right." - Conrart said, relaxing. - "But what do you mean by "like him"? And as for Maou, that means "Demon King"."

"You want to say HE is the King of DEMONS?" - Ramiel seemed to struggle with the concept. Yuuri looked offended.

"Hey! What's wrong with me being the Demon King?"

"There's nothing wrong with it. It's just…You are so…well, pure. And demons are…" - Ramiel trailed off lost in thought, then looked up. - "I'm sorry again, I'm not used to idea of different demons yet… You are so… so human."

Gwendal frowned.

"What exactly is that supposed to mean? And where did you come from? How did you get into the dungeons? Are you from another world?"

Ramiel's eyes widened. He edged towards sleeping Eskil.

"I… I think I better wake up Pro.. Uncle Soteres. He would be displeased to be left out of this conversation. So… I better…"

"There is no need to that, Desi." - quiet voice interrupted Ramiel. Eskil "Soteres" rose from the chair and stretched. He then walked up to Ramiel and drew him to his side. Ramiel's eyes grew big, paniced, then suddenly closed. When he opened them he looked calm and sure of himself. Gwendal and Conrart both took notice of that and exchanged glances.

"That is strange," - commented Eskil, observing the room bathed in the light of the morning sun. - "I was under impression that twenty-four hours should pass, but here we understand each other, and it's only morning."

"You both slept through yesterday," - replied Gisela, - "now is the morning of second day."

"Ah." - Eskil nodded to himself, then bowed slightly to Gisela. - "I thank you madam for your healing skills in putting my ward on the path to recovery. I humbly apologize that I have nothing to offer in return for now."

Then he turned to others and also nodded gratefully to Gwendal.

"I also must express my gratitude for allowing us your hospitality even though we happened so unexpectedly and without invitation in your home, and sparing us."

Gwendal shrugged, a bit uncomfortable, while Yuuri blushed and stuttered.

"N-no, that is all right. I mean you meant us no harm, so why wouldn't we help you?"

"A-ah! The kindness of our Heika knows no boundaries, and he's the most merciful and forgiving person in the entire world!" - Günter tried to get Heika into hug, but Yuuri hid behind Conrart. Eskil warily eyed the scene for some time, then sighed:

"As for us being here… That is a long story, maybe you have a place where we could all sit and talk, this will take some time."

"Hmm. We could talk in the library," - Gwendal said, motioning for the others to the exit, then glanced at Ramiel. - "Are you in any condition to walk?"

"I can walk!" - Ramiel indigantly exclaimed. Behind him Eskil caught Gwendal's eyes and raised one eyebrow, then made a picking motion. Gwendal nodded and said:

"Follow me then."

He went out of the room, Eskil and Ramiel behind him.

A/N: from site about Kyou Kara Maou

**Conrart Weller:** AKA: Conrad, Commander, The Lion of Luttenberg

Age: unknown, older than he looks

Race: half human, half demon

Family: mother - Cecilie, older brother - Gwendal, younger brother - Wolfram, father - Dan Hiri (dead)

Power: no magical power, strong fighter

Likes: protects his Majesty

Hates: nothing?

Personality: nice, calm, sweet, brave, and caring. He is like the world's most perfect guy.

Conrad is the second son of the former Demon Queen. His father was a human. On his 16th birthday, he chose to live the rest of his live as a demon instead of a human. He fought bravely for the demon side, and is one of the most loyal in the kingdom. He was the one who gave Yuri his name. After Yuri came back to the Demon Kingdom, he acts as Yuri's bodyguard and vowed to protect him with his life.

Yuri is the only one who called him "Conrad". Everyone else called him "Conrart".


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Huge sorry for the waiting! I was suffering from the case of graduation exams :)

My undying gratitude to my beta teenwitch18, who looked over this chapter!

Disclaimer: I have no ownership of Harry Potter. Kyou Kara Maou also doesn't belong to me. (grumbling to myself - that's not fair... I'd like at least a piece of them... )

**Chapter 8**

When Harry woke up in the morning, he stilled, not moving for several minutes, trying to understand where he was. Soft sheets, pillows, morning sunlight…. Definitely not Voldemort's dungeons, then. No sounds except almost inaudible breathing to his left. Opening his eyes, he turned his head and saw a stranger sleeping in the chair next to his bed. _Wait! _That was Professor Snape! Memories of the recent events flooded his mind and he jerked into a sitting position. They died! And were still alive… Sirius… Demons! Oh Merlin, his appearance. Swaying slightly, he climbed off the bed and looked around. Thankfully, there was an ancient-looking mirror in the room. Stumbling, he went to it and peered at his reflected face. Oh…O-o-o-oh…. Oh Merlin…. Snape's black unreadable eyes looked back at Harry. His hair also changed color, now as white as … as the Veil from the inside. His face no longer resembled his dad's, but was more like his mum's now. Well, it could be worse, sighed Harry, then whipped his head around to the door. The group of demons from before stood there looking at him. There was a new one though, that felt both human and demon. He was brown-haired and brown-eyed. He reminded Harry of Moony somehow. Moony… Moony was dead now, everyone had left Harry; only Snape was still with him. And Snape… no, Soteres, was sleeping, leaving Harry all alone with strangers. They didn't seem hostile, but Harry didn't give his trust so easily anymore. Not after everything that had happened… However, he shouldn't antagonize them, they saved his life it seemed, so he owed them a Life Debt. Besides, Harry was so tired of lying and pretending. It never really helped in the long run. The truth tended to come out at the most inappropriate moments. If they were to live here, wouldn't it be better to not hide anything?

During the conversation with the demons Harry relaxed somewhat, finally finding out who the black-haired boy was. Though that meant that Harry and Snape had appeared in a royal castle… Would that help them, or make it worse, Harry wondered. He could see that the demons wanted to know about their appearance's, especially the dark-haired demon named Gwendal. However, Harry didn't want to talk about it without Snape…Soteres. Thankfully, by some miracle, Sn…Soteres woke up just in time. He then gave Harry a huge shock, drawing him into half-hug. What the…? Oh. Harry felt a wave of calmness and safety enveloping him, and closed his eyes in pleasure. Whatever happened to Snape..eh..Soteres to make him more open to Harry, he was grateful for it. It was good to feel being protected. He detached himself from the conversation, deciding to leave everything in the more than capable hands of S…Soteres, and just enjoy the feelings he got from him.

Snape wasn't a spy for nothing, and was a light sleeper. He usually felt tension and strangers in the room, like now, for example, and that woke him up. Standing up, he noticed Desi facing the demons alone, and went to his side immediately, protectively drawing Desi to his chest. He didn't even think about his actions, they somehow felt… natural. After a short talk with Gwendal he decided to give the explanation for his and Harry's appearance in a more comfortable setting, and thus they went to library.

The library turned out to be not too far away, just a few corridors down from the infirmary. Plushy chairs stood around little wood tables in the corners and the center of the room, bookshelves were lined up at the walls, and overall, was a rather cozy room. Gwendal offered them the table in the center, and they sat around it in the comfortable armchairs, Harry and Snape near each other. Konrart and Yuuri mirrored their sitting position on the other side of the table, while Gizela sat between Yuuri and Harry, and G¸nter between Snape and Gwendal who settled in comfortably near Konrart.

"So, where do you come from?" - Yuuri asked, shifting impatiently in his seat.

"We came from the world called Earth." - Snape said, deciding to be completely truthful for once. At least, in this case. Unknowingly coming to the same decision as Harry, regarding their story. Snape was tired of lying, deceiving and hiding information, always alert so as not to spill some vital secret, always trying to placate his Masters. Dumbledore was not as vicious as Voldemort, but in some matters he was no less cruel. Snape was fed up with all of that, and he decided to be truthful in this new life as much as he could be. He wanted to become as different as he could, besides, in their situation lying would gain nothing.

"Earth?!" - Yuuri exclaimed , - "I'm from Earth also. Where exactly are you from?"- he asked, excited at the prospect of knowing fellow earthlings.

"Hmm. As far as I know we don't have demons of your kind in our world. So I assume that it's a different Earth. Well, I suppose it doesn't matter as we can't return anyway. But we are from England in our world, if you want to know." - Snape said, lowering his head.

"Why can't you return?" - Konrart asked, leaning back in his chair. - "Heika here travels back and forth all the time, and he could take you with him next time if it's your Earth."

"It's …complicated," - Snape said, averting his eyes.

"What's complicated about it?" - Harry snorted. - "We are considered dead there, and, well, we did die in a sense. Hmm, and we would die again if we returned there."

"Ah," - Gwendal exchanged glances with Konrart and looked back at Harry. - "And what was the reason if I may ask?"

"Well, it's a long story." - Harry said, shifting slightly.

"We have time." - Konrart said, smiling encouragingly at Harry. - "Please, we only want to help…"

"All right," - Harry sighed. Then he looked at Snape uncertainly, wanting him to help him. - "Uncle, I… could you…"

"Very well," - Snape settled comfortably in his armchair. - "For you to understand everything you should know first that we are…were wizards, and there is a Wizarding World hidden from muggles, or non-magical people. About a thousand years ago two powerful wizards and two powerful witches founded Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and therefore became known in our world as the Founders of Hogwarts. They were Slytherin, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. After founding the school, Salazar Slytherin got into a fight with the rest of the Founders. He insisted that Muggleborns - magical people born from non-magical people - shouldn't be allowed into the school, as they presented a danger for the Wizarding World. His point of view was reasonable at the time, as muggles feared the unknown and the unexplainable at the time, and killed anyone they suspected of practicing magic. Nonetheless, the others disagreed with him and he left the school."

"You aren't going to recite all those thousand years' happenings to us, are you?" - Gwendal asked, raising his eyebrow, not noticing Günter's scowl in his direction. Heika's Royal Councilor was fascinated with the information about this foreign world, or even dimension, and definitely wouldn't mind listening to it as much as he could.

"No," - Snape drawled. - "But these events will clarify what happened later."

"To continue where we were so rudely cut off," - he continued, eyeing Gwendal - "about seventy years ago, there was a boy born, named Tom Marvolo Riddle. His mother was one of the last descendants of Slytherin and she fell in love with a muggle. That was outrageous and unacceptable in the eyes of her family, so she was thrown out of her home. What's more, the muggle didn't love her, so she brewed a love potion and bewitched him. When she became pregnant she believed that he would accept her and stopped giving him the potion. However, despite her carrying his only heir, he threw her out, just as her family did. Later, she died giving birth to Tom who was named after his father. Tom grew up in an orphanage and was bullied all of his childhood, he was hated by the people in the orphanage, and began to hate in return. He was considered an odd one, a freak if you will, in the eyes of the other children. They feared him and what he could do, they hid their fear by beating him."

Harry flinched when Snape said the word "freak"; his reaction not going unnoticed by Gwendal, Konrart, Günter and Gisela. Gisela pursed her lips, while Gwendal frowned as always. Günter meanwhile, seemed ready to cry. Only Yuuri was oblivious to Harry's flinch and seemed ready to shout about the unjust cruelty. Despite everything he himself had experienced, Yuuri still had a hard time trying to take in just how malicious humans, or anyone for that matter, could be.

Snape paused his tale and cleared his throat, then went ahead with the tale.

"In our world, children are accepted into Hogwarts when they become eleven. They are then sorted into one of the four Houses, named after the Founders, and live in the school for the whole year except holidays, when they are allowed to leave and visit home. Riddle was sorted into Slytherin, and discovered there his heritage. Dumbledore who worked as a Professor there at the time, found out about that too. Generally Slytherins were considered ambitious, sneaky, power hungry, and Dark. And to be Slytherin's Heir… Albus grew suspicious of Tom, and decided to break him before Riddle could become too powerful for his liking. He had been sending Tom back to the orphanage every year, where he talked to the director and because of that Tom was treated much more viciously than usually. The mistake in his plan, beside the plan itself, was that Tom was already much too strong mentally to be broken by the cruelty in the orphanage, and such treatment only worsened his views, on muggles and wizards alike. By his 7th year and final year in Hogwarts, Tom had already killed his only remaining family, a student at Hogwarts and was firmly on his way to become a Dark Lord. He created a new name for himself, untainted by muggles so to say. He called himself Voldemort."

"Now, he didn't begin to conquer the world immediately," - Snape mused, absently stroking Harry's hair, who decided to move closer to Snape and leaned against his shoulder. - "No, he bided his time, exploring the world and Dark Arts, and gathering followers. When Harry's parents and I were attending school, he began to make his move. By the time we had graduated, people were so afraid of him, they didn't dare to even say his name, instead they called him He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, or You-Know-Who. That was one of the darkest times in Wizarding history. People were terrified, suspicious of everyone and everything, hiding. The Ministry was in disarray, crumbling. Dumbledore was the only one Voldemort was cautious of, and he created a group dedicated to fighting Voldemort. An illegal one in the eyes of the Ministry, but heroes in people's minds."

"Still, it wasn't enough," - he sighed grimly, eyes distant, looking somewhere far away. - "We tried as hard as we could, but we could do only so much. Dumbledore became ruthless and sneaky, becoming nearly the same thing as he was fighting against. But to him, everything he was doing was for the greater good, as far as he was concerned. It was then that one unpredictable and seemingly fraud-like Seer made a prophecy about the birth of the child capable of defeating The Dark Lord. Desi, and one other boy were the only candidates, so their parents went into hiding. They used a special spell that made their house invisible to everyone else except for someone whom they or one other person, the Secret Keeper, told their location. Unfortunately, they chose the wrong friend to trust, and were betrayed. Voldemort knew by then about prophecy, though not everything, and was actively looking for them. He killed Desi's parents, and tried to kill Desi, but something prevented the curse from working as it should have. It rebounded and destroyed Voldemort's body, though his spirit survived. It was then that Dumbledore went… insane in lack of a better term. He stopped caring about other's opinions at all, and listened to no one. Other people became just playthings for him, not even considered human beings."

"What do you mean?" - Yuuri asked, horrified at what had been revealed thus far. Konrart glanced at him, worried. He didn't like to see Heika worrying or hurting. Yuuri was easily impressed and every little unfair thing he ever learned about pained him as if done to himself.

"Well, for one, he knew who betrayed Desi's parents, but everybody else thought it to be another person. Sirius Black, Desi's Godfather, was declared their Secret Keeper when they first went into hiding, while in truth, Peter Pettigrew, their other… _friend_,"- here he sneered disdainfully, - "was chosen. So when Desi's parents died, everyone assumed that Black was responsible, and threw him into prison without so much as a trial. Dumbledore didn't intervene, because otherwise Desi would be in Black's care, away from his own manipulations. With Black unavailable, and other choices unsuitable, Desi was sent to live with his mother's sister, Petunia."

"What was wrong with that? I mean, they were relatives, right?" - Gisela asked, not seeing what was wrong with living with relatives.

Harry laughed bitterly, startling everyone.

"They hated me from the first time they saw me. The very idea of me, a magical child, was abhorrent to them. I was a "freak", an "abomination", an "unnatural disgusting creature, that should have never been born",…" - he trailed off.

Yuuri was appalled as were others. Gwendal was clenching his fists in fury, and Giesela was nearly smoldering in outrage. But it was Günter's face that was truly frightening - his face was like a frozen stone, with darkened eyes like two violet flames, and pursed lips holding back expletives. Harry felt their rage, but it was directed, not at him, but at his relatives, and that gave him some comfort - knowledge that he and Snape had made the right choice in trusting these virtual strangers, who were worried on their behalf.

"Calm down, Desi…" - Snape snaked his hand around Harry and hugged him to himself. - "They will never touch you again. And everything they've said were all lies."

"Were they really?" - Harry asked quietly.

Snape frowned.

"Desi. Even when I hated you, I've never considered you any of those things, or like that. You are powerful, extraordinary, and unique. All in a good sense, of course. Never think otherwise, is that clear?"

"Yes," - Harry didn't look very convinced and doubt was still evident in his voice, but Snape left it at that for the time being. Harry needed time to heal, and become sure of himself. At least for now... He continued then:

"So, Desi grew up in conditions close to those that Voldemort experienced: beatings, starvation, neglect, humiliation and hate. But Dumbledore learned his lesson well, and followed Desi's progress in school when the time came. When Desi arrived at Hogwarts, he encountered the people chosen by Dumbledore in advance, and was talked into being sorted in Gryffindor. Dumbledore also wormed his way into Desi's mind as a mentor, a friend, and a pseudo-grandfather. And by being close to him, the Headmaster manipulated Desi from the first day of school, to the very last day of him being in the Wizarding World. Dumbledore set specific trials before Desi to mold him into the perfect weapon: self-sacrificing, willing, powerful and obedient. Yet at the same time, vulnerable and fragile to certain words and actions, so he could be broken after the war. Well… his plan worked to a degree, I suppose…" - Snape smiled a bit morbidly. They should have died by all accounts after stepping into the Veil.

"Wait!" - Yuuri blurted out suddenly. - "How do YOU relate to all of this? Where were you? If Ramiel calls you his Uncle, why didn't he live with you?"

"I was teacher at Hogwarts. I taught Potions, to be exact. During my childhood I befriended Desi's mother, but not long before graduation we… had a fight about Desi's father, and I felt…betrayed, and made one of the worst and most terrible mistakes of my life. I became Voldemort's follower."

"What?!!" - the demons exclaimed as one. Konrart tensed beside Yuuri, and Harry felt his concern... but more than anything else he felt a sudden and sharp, nearly stinging regret coming from Snape... Soteres. - "But then… how?" - Yuuri gestured wildly towards Desi.

"I realized my mistake, however, it was too late to turn back, so I became a spy for Dumbledore. Of course, I understood too late that he was using me in some of his machinations, which were not very light nor legal, but by the time I understood it, I could do nothing short of fleeing or dying, and in those circumstances fleeing meant dying, and dying meant leaving Desi without at least some protection. So, in the end, I was his pawn along with Desi."

Snape sighed and wondered if they would have to fight their way out after the next part. Demons, humans... Everyone could be prejudiced jerks and cowards, and Harry was very powerful now, undoubtedly so. He had a direct link with a Being of the After-life, who could act through him and kill just like that. That could be truly fear-inspiring. Severus couldn't directly lie because they had to understand the possible danger. If something happened later, they would panic and attack them if they weren't told now. But maybe he could omit some details, or at least lessen the blow. After all, he hadn't told them anything truly useful so far. Sure, he had briefly described their history, and some of the major events, but most of it was about Voldemort and Dumbledore, and had skipped a lot of important details about themselves. He continued on choosing his words carefully:

"Desi was captured by Voldemort in the beginning of his sixth year, and there he was somehow bound to a great power. It was the power spoken of in the prophecy, and it had chosen Desi as it's conduit. Desi couldn't control it, and will probably never again experience it, but at the Final Battle just short of two days ago, it broke through and destroyed the Dark Lord and his followers. I'm not sure what happened with Desi while in captivity, as I was discovered to be a spy by that time, and it was by some miracle that I was not in the Dark Lord's presence at the time. Desi himself is not sure of all details either. When Voldemort was destroyed I can only guess that Dumbledore panicked. He probably realized that Desi would realize some things after coming into age, and find out about his manipulations and actions. Desi was growing up and was beginning to question things, he was already suspicious of Dumbledore, and didn't trust him all that much, so the Headmaster twisted the situation to his advantage and claimed that Desi a danger to society not a minute after the Dark Lord was defeated. The bloody hypocrite. People, being the cowards that they are, only cheered this decision. There is an object in the Department of Mysteries that was once used to execute the most dangerous criminals, called the Veil of Death. So, Desi was sentenced to it just two minutes after destroying Voldemort. I tried to protest, but it was all in vain. So, I grabbed Desi and went there myself. Desi was dying from his wounds as it was, and fleeing with him would be pointless. There was nowhere to run. I knew that only my skills as a Potion Master were keeping Dumbledore from sending me to Azkaban, the wizarding prison; I lost my godson; the woman I loved was long gone; there was no one to spy on; and now Desi was to be killed. So I took him and went to the Veil, and I stepped through it holding him, ...and here we are."

Everyone fell silent for a while, digesting the tale, or in Harry and Severus' case, remembering the horrors of the past. Then silence was broken by one of the demons.

"So you are wizards? Is that like a sorcerer?" - Konrart asked warily, but positively interested.

"We..." - Snape hesitated. - "...are not. After stepping into Veil we encountered someone, and were told that we would be changed. As I understood it, we are Shifters. We can change forms to certain animals at will and we have some powers. But we were told that we'll have to find our forms and how to use our powers first. Meanwhile we are stuck in this form, our main one."

"So you are not humans?" - Gwendal was curious. So far he had only ever known demons, being one himself, and humans, living in one world with them. Eskil and Ramiel looked human enough...

"No," - Snape was firm. If their hosts were demons, he decided, then being considered human would be counter-productive. Especially since they were not human anymore...

"Don't mind Gwendal, Ramiel-kun, Eskil-san! It doesn't matter whether you are human, demon, or whatever else! You can stay here, with us, if you want! " - Yuuri exclaimed enthusiastically, - "Ramiel will need a healer for some time, and Gisela could help him. You can also tell us more about your world, and travel with us so you could explore this world and find somewhere else to live if you don't like it here. I could probably take you to my Earth but there are no wizards there, so there is no magic either, and here you could live in the open. What do you think, Eskil-san?" - Yuuri asked, eyes shining with joy and the desire to help.

"But we don't want to trouble you..." - Harry's voice sounded meek in the room's silence.

"There will be no trouble." - Konrart said, interested at what these Shifters could do. He could only imagine how useful their skills would be in protecting Heika, and they were definitely not spies of Dai Shimaron, or some other still threatening country. Besides, Yuuri could be friends with Ramiel. He had only Wolfram and sometimes Murata of his own age in the castle. Both of them were often absent lately, and Yuuri was bored out of his mind. Then again, Gwendal needed help with his papers, and no one was disciplined enough to do it. And this Eskil looked like suitable candidate. Günter nearly salivated at the possibility to learn something new. - "The castle is large, and there are a lot of empty rooms here. You are both welcome to stay here for however long you wish to. Besides, Ramiel really needs a healer, does he not?"

"All right," - Snape finally agreed . - "But we would like to stay in the same room, if that is all right. I would like to be close to Desi in case he has nightmares, and that is a big possibility after everything he's gone through."

"It's quite understandable," - Günter looked very serious after hearing their story, and nodded approvingly at Eskil. - "Of course, you can stay together."

"I'll order the servants to bring a second bed into your room", - Yuuri jumped in with enthusiasm.

"Thank you", - Snape nodded to him then glanced at Desi. - "If it is all right, we'd like to rest for now. "

The conversation ended at that, and Gwendal returned to his papers while Günter dragged a protesting Yuuri away to his Mazoku language lessons. Conrart, along with Giesela, helped their guests to return to their rooms, and Konrart looked into putting second bed into the room, while Giesela checked on Ramiel and Eskil. Then he ordered the servants to bring dinner to the room, and promised to show them the castle in the evening, when Eskil and his ward would be rested. After that Konrart decided that a talk with Gwendal was due. He had a lot to discuss and share, and also wanted some advice on personal matters. Nothing life-threatening, but nonetheless important...

A/N: Folks, don't kill me for the long dialogues..err.. monologoes...whatever. :) I promise some action soon. I just couldn't drop them on the heads of suspicious demons just after war and assassination attempt on Yuuri without giving good long explantion. As it is, only the fact that they were injured in the first place (well, Harry was) prevented Gwendal from putting them into nice dark cells in the dungeons.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N**: First of all, PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! **I know I'm late with the update! But life was demanding in the last weeks and I barely had time to get to computer to read mail, not even capable of producing one decent sentence cause I was so tired. So then...

Then I want to thank my beta teenwitch18, cause she has great patience indeed. And unlike me, she finds time to look over chapter even when life is grumpy on her.

About the chapter: I tried to change perspective, but I'm not sure I got it as I wished. The thing is, when I wrote Snape and Harry I meant their own perspective and events from their point of view as I describe it. If it is Eskil and Ramiel then it's demons point of view of them. And when it's Desi and Soteres then it's their thoughts of each other. I hope you won't be much confused! :)

Chapter 9

After the meeting and leaving the Shifters, as Konrart had decided to call them, on their own the thoughtful half-mazoku threw himself into training with the soldiers. He couldn't understand the pain in Ramiel's voice, or the self-loathing in Eskil's voice when he talked of his past out of his head. Yuuri and Ramiel were nearly the same age, yet they were so different. Yuuri had lost his childlike innocence in the war, but he was still innocent compared to Ramiel. What kind of horrors had that boy seen? Words alone could not convey the sheer terror that their meaning held. It was a miracle that the poor child wasn't completely broken. Oh, how he wished he could meet these so called guardians, or his friends. Well, he wouldn't hurt children, probably, but he certainly had some words for them. "If that happened to Yuuri", - he thought fiercely, - "nothing would save those who hurt him." He startled at the thought. No, not at the thought but at the emotions that accompanied it. Rage, protectiveness, and... love? He'd always felt love towards Yuuri, but it was different before. More brother-like, but in the last few months, he began to find the young man attractive. He had told himself that it was nothing, just loneliness finally getting to him, but he never payed attention to anyone besides Yuuri. And now... now he understood with sudden and devastating clarity that yes, he was in love with Yuuri. Deeply, irrevocably and utterly in love with... the fiancee of his youngest brother. The irony of the situation was not lost on him. Julia, Yuuri's past incarnation was also the fiancee of another, and he was in love with her as well. Maybe that's it! - in desperation he clenched his teeth. "Maybe I love Yuuri because he is Julia reincarnated." But he knew that was a lie. He saw the differences between Julia and Yuuri and he liked all of them. Every quirk and habit that was unique to Yuuri was dear to Konrart. He loved the boy... no!... the young man, and that was the final, bitter understanding.

..............................................................

Harry and Severus were left alone in their room, though the guards were still stationed outside. And as Konrart had explained, to call him or Giesela if anything was needed. For some time there was an awkward silence in the room, then Snape softly nudged Harry towards the bed:

"You need rest, Desi, go ahead and sleep a little."

Harry frowned.

"What about you, U..uncle?"

"I need to think a bit, don't worry about me." - Snape had some concerns about his behaviour in the last few hours, and had to ponder on it. He caught his reflection in the mirror, and frowned. Beyond changes in his appearance, something else was different, but for the life of him, he couldn't figure out what it was.

Shrugging slightly, Harry decided not to argue, especially since he felt really tired, and in minutes he was snoring peacefully under the watchful eye of his newly appointed uncle.

Snape sat in the chair and thoughtfully rubbed his lips with the fingers. He had always prided himself on the control he had over his emotions, but since the moment they had arrived in this strange world, everything had become different. And the strangest thing was, was that he himself couldn't tell what it was that had changed. He noticed it only after Ha..Desi was startled by being hugged to Severus' side when demons came into the room. He didn't remember hugging anyone like that before, and that alone should have been a warning to him like a Sonorus-ed Howler, but... it felt natural. Why? Did Desi's empathy come into playing? Or their experience in the Veil? In the Veil.... Hmmm... Now that he thought about it, it seemed like a valid explanation. After all, Black and... the rest of them did change their appearance, and even their race. Could they influence his emotions? His gut instincts shouted at him that yes, they could and did. And what's worse, he couldn't even get angry at them for that. And if he could, that would hurt Desi. Blasted Marauders! Though... if Lily wished for it be like that...

Putting away that problem for some later moment of time, Snape switched his attention to Desi's empathy. Should he have told to demons about it, or not? On the one hand, Desi's empathy was an ace in their sleeve that was warning them of demons' intentions and possible dangers. Besides, Snape knew that the thought of your emotions being opened to someone would frighten anyone in nine times out of ten. They were not in position to get someone scared of them. Not now, when they were so vulnerable.

But... Demons could hurt Desi with their emotions without knowing to be careful around him. This Konrart and Gwendal were soldiers, no mistake about that. And soldiers meant fights, pain, war and death. How can he protect Desi from that? Can he do it at all by himself?

Desi... It was still strange to call Harry like that, but somehow that name seemed suiting Harry very much. It gave the impression of something small, gentle, and sorrowful, but resilient at the same time, and maybe even a bit fierce. He chose that name in the stroke of inspiration, and if he thought about it, he really couldn't have chosen the better name.

In his worries about the future he didn't notice how he fell asleep.

Several hours later Harry stirred and opened his eyes. He felt better than he had in a long long time. Actually, he couldn't remember the last time he felt this good. He felt... peaceful and relaxed. Wait a minute! Were these his emotions? He concentrated on the feelings and noticed immediately that at least half of them came from his right. Opening his eyes he turned his head and nearly giggled. The Potions Master slept in the armchair near his bed with a soft smile on his face, and waves of relaxing calm were radiating off him. The older ex-wizard ignored the second bed and was rather comfortably dreaming of something pleasant in large soft armchair.

Silently Harry left the bed and nearly cursed as he put his feet on the floor. It was freezing! Oh, wait... Where were his boots? And what kind of demons were their hosts? Ice demons?! He startled when on the small table beside the bed he noticed two sets of clothes, towels, and boots. Well, he wouldn't mind to burn the remains of his filthy clothes, but the towels implied the bath, and where was the bath here? Of course, blood and filth were cleaned from his body by zealous healers, but really... a nice warm bath was to die for right now! He snorted. And he did, didn't he? Harry sighed. He didn't wish to awaken Soteres, but he definitely wouldn't leave the room by himself. What to do? What to do? Hmmm... Wasn't he a natural Shifter now? What was it that Sirius said? Concentration?

Sitting in the middle of the bed, Harry closed his eyes tightly and tried to imagine himself... errr.. He opened his eyes stumped. What should he imagine himself doing? Turning into the panther? Or into falcon? Or just sprouting wings? What is easier? Wait! Sirius told that they should master Secunda forms first. Secunda... Hmm... What did he look like in Secunda form? Wings! He closed his eyes again and holding his breath thought hard of wings growing from his back...growing...growing...growing....

"What are you doing?" - amused voice interrupted his flow of thinking.

During his unsuccessful attempts at Shifting Harry hasn't noticed that Snape woke up and now stared at him.

"I'm trying to Shift." - Harry tried to look non-chalantly.

"That's rather foolish of you." - scowled Snape but stopped when noticed Harry's flinch.

"I didn't say you are a fool, but that your actions were such. What if something went wrong, Desi? I as your guardian, and Uncle, have to try it first and understand the process to teach it to you, not the other way around." - Snape shook his head disapprovingly. - "Now let's see what this castle is like."

They asked the guard behind the doors to get Konrart for them, and the company of three went to explore the castle. First Konrart led them to the baths and huge pool where Snape and Harry took a quick shower and swim in a pool. Then they put on their new clothes and went ahead with the excursion. Konrart turned out to be a wonderful guide for them. He knew the castle inside out, and had many interesting stories to tell about the Maou and Demon Kingdom. He explained the peculiar names for the castle and surroundings. More than that, he was collected and calm, and his calmness affected Harry positively. Snape was grateful for that, as he had expected that being in the presence of a soldier would have had an adverse effect on Desi.

Of course, Konrart skipped some parts of the castle like Treasury Room and Gwendal's office, of which he made no mystery and politely told what and why he didn't show them the rooms. His instincts screamed at him that it was essential to be honest with these two, especially if he wanted a chance to have their help in the future.

The tour took the whole evening, and the sun was already setting when they returned to their rooms. Severus and Harry were worn out, and while Snape was feeling alive yet tired, Harry was dead on his feet. Both of them were overflowing with new information and impressions, and thoughts crowded in their heads fighting with each other. In their room Harry dropped immediately on the bed and lay eagle-spread across it, while Snape sat in the armchair with all the dignity he could master after walking for the whole evening across the castle and the courtyard. The castle itself hadn't seemed that large in the beginning, but it had many hidden corridors and rooms, and was like a labyrinth full of intersections and stairs. A majestic piece of art but tiresome to walk around.

Konrart went in the room with them, ordering the guard at the door to fetch a servant to bring them dinner. He sat in the chair at the wall across Eskil and sighed in relief.

"That was some day! Rather exhausting, wouldn't you say?"

Severus just nodded and looked over at Desi. The boy weakly twitched in agreement.

"What are you going to do tomorrow?" - Konrart softly inquired. He suspected that Eskil and Ramiel had no plans whatsoever, but felt obliged to ask.

"That I do not know yet." - Eskil said, confirming his suspicions. - "I can't think of anything as of yet, but I don't want to sit idly by and do nothing. I'm sure Desi agrees with me."

Konrart noticed that Ramiel twitched again, but it was hard to say if it was in agreement or the opposite. If he was anything like Yuuri then he would prefer to run around helping everyone.

"Well, if you are not against it, I think Gwendal would appreciate your help. He has been tremendously busy with the paperwork in the last few days, and has barely had any time to eat. Unfortunately, none of us has free time to assist him in his task. If you just sort the papers for him it would help greatly."

"Erm..." - Ramiel sat up on the bed and scratched his head. - "I'm not sure we can read Demon language, I mean, sure we can speak it but it's not the same."

'You have a point," - Konrart admitted, - "wait a second..."

He searched the pockets of his uniform and fished out a piece of paper and a pencil. Thinking for a moment, he then scribbled something quickly and gave the paper to Eskil.

"Can you read it?"

Snape looked over the paper and saw some strange symbols, not quite hieroglyphs, nor letters. He scowled at the thought of learning how to write and read like a schoolboy and was ready to tell Konrart "no", but paused. The symbols went hazy, then turned into a perfectly clear phrase. "Long live Maou Yuuri!". He passed the paper piece to Desi.

"Try not to concentrate on the symbols themselves." - he said, trying to help Desi.

Harry squinted at the words and was silent for some time, his face puzzled, but then it went alight in astonishment and understanding.

"I can! Wow!"

'So it's decided then!" - Konrart said, glad that he had found help for his brother, and at the same time, something easy to do for the recovering Shifters. Gwendal could watch them at the same time, after all, it wasn't in his nature to leave strangers be in Yuuri's vicinity unsupervised. Especially with a past like theirs.

Harry was not overjoyed. Oh no, he was far from being excited at the prospect of being in some wary stranger's company for the whole day and dealing with the most boring thing in the Universe - paperwork. He was convinced, while in Hogwarts, that paperwork was invented by some colleague of Voldemort as one of the most inventive forms of torture. The homework, compositions, bureaucracy - it was pure torture. That was a fact. And he still remembered the wariness of that dark soldier. Sure he felt protectiveness and outrage, but for whom and why - these answers couldn't be given to him by his abilities. Konrart, being a half-demon, was much easier to understand right now, when he was alone in their presence if you didn't count the guards behind the doors. Speaking of which, the guard that had been sent to retrieve a servant returned in the company of another curious demon, who was very nervous as far as Harry could feel. In the next second there was a knock at the door and it opened, revealing a wide-eyed demon maid who was holding large tray with dinner for two.

- "Oh. Lord Weller! I didn't think you would be here, else I would have brought dinner for you too! I'm so sorry!" - she began apologizing in panick.

"Don't worry, Doria, I'll eat later with Gwendal. I have to talk with him anyway." - Konrart said, rising from the chair and spoke to Eskil. - I'll tell him to prepare everything for you and you will have just to get the guard to lead you to Gwendal's office. And Doria, you are now in charge of our guests meals.

With these words he left two uncomfortable Shifters in the company of one excited, and nearly jumping at the thought of being so close to the source of the new gossip, demoness.

After the questioning the confused Shifters, a giggling and satisfied Doria left them, ready to cook all these new and interesting recipes. She doubted she'd be able to make pumpkin juice, considering she didn't even know what a pumpkin was, but scrambled eggs sounded nice. But more than anything she was happy to discuss whom they would crush on. Oh, the possibilities!

Severus Snape was content with how their situation had progressed thus far. He looked forward to the next day, hoping to learn something new from the papers and possibly talking with Gwendal. "You can quit spying, but you can't quit being a spy", - the sudden thought came to him, and he frowned. He wished so hard to put spying behind him, but was it possible? His whole persona, his character and habits were all aimed at one goal - to create a perfect spy. Could he change himself? Did he want to? He was himself. He just... was. And he was a spy with no one to spy on. But he had something to protect and maybe that was enough.

Konrart sat in the heavy armchair near fireplace and contemplated the day. Gwendal and Günter were sitting near him in similar armchairs. It wasn't often that they gathered like this, but everyone agreed that it would be beneficial right now.

"If I understood you right, I am to expect company tomorrow." - Gwendal said, not in the least bit amused.

"Yes, I thought they could help you." - Konrart said, seeming unperturbed by Gwendals anger.

"But why did you decide that I would trust them with the information held in those papers? What if they decide to betray us?"

"Oh?" - Konrart smiled smugly. - "I feel that they wouldn't, besides... Tell me, brother, what are these papers about mostly?"

"Hn." - Gwendals glare softened a bit, but continued frowning slightly - "I see your point. Still... To have some strangers in my room for the whole day..."

"Would you prefer them somewhere in the castle unsupervised?" - Günter noted cunningly. - "Of course, I could always take them for myself! Ah! Those amazing, wavy locks! Their shining could blind you with their absolute perfection!" - he added immediately. - "Oh, how I would enjoy the company of Eskil! Mmmm....."

Konrart and Gwendal looked at each other in understanding. Günter would always be Günter. And it seemed he found someone new to crush on.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Well, I'd like to apologize for delay in updates first. Never fear, I didn't forget about my readers, and don't plan to abandon my story:) Also, this chapter is unbetaed, cause my beta teenwitch18 has disappeared somewhere and doesn't answer (I hope you're allright if you read this), so I've decided finally to post it as it is. If you see any mistakes, feel free to point them out, I will only be happy.

Oh, and I forgot to put disclaimer on previous chapter, so I'll say it here: "No, I don't own or have ever EVER owned Harry Potter or Kyou Kara Maou, ragarding Chapter 9 of my story. I really wish I did, but if wishes were drops of water..."

And now for present chapter:

Disclaimer: My God, why?! Why wasn't I born as Rowling or whoever it was who created Kyou Kara Maou? Now I don't possess even one tiny little piece of them... It's so sad... (went away wailing)

Chapter 10

When Gwendal agreed to accept their guests help, he thought that at least the first part of the day would be to himself only. The boy - no! - the young man - was recovering rapidly as was his guardian. However, Gwendal didn't consider two factors.

First was that the usual day of the ex-wizard known as Severus Snape or The Dungeon Bat (as students called him) began at five o'clock, or at six o'clock if he was lucky. Life of the teacher was never that easy as Hogwarts students imagined it to be. Checking essays and preparing the room for the lessons took a lot of time as it was, but try adding to this spying duties and preparing potions for Infirmary, not counting looking after his Slytherins, and life was busy. Too busy sometimes.

The usual day of ex-wizard known as Harry Potter or The-Boy-Who-Lived (as everyone knew him) began at six o'clock when he was "home" (at Dursleys), or at seven if he was at Hogwarts. At Dursley he had to prepare breakfast and start his chores if he wanted to have them done by the evening to get the dinner, and at school... well... no escaping lessons was allowed certainly.

And second factor was that habits die hard. Sometimes with their owners. Sometimes not.

**.........................................................................**

Severus opened his eyes at six o'clock, and immediately closed them again. Those damningly bright sun rays were falling straight on his face, and there was no escape from them. How Desi managed to sleep in conditions like that was a mystery to him. Potions Master groaned internally and left the confines of the bed. He washed his face and put on the clothes when Desi began to stir and moan. "No, please... Please, no more..." He was having a nightmare, it seemed. Severus sat by his side and gently stroke his hair. "Wake up, Desi. It's just a bad dream. Desi... Wake up, Desi..." Boy opened his eyes suddenly and jumped into a sitting position with a gasp. "Uncle, please!" Ah... So it was about those bloody Dursleys... What would he have given for strangling them with his own hands...

"I'm here, Desi. Calm down. It's me." - Severus was not used to talking in soft voice but it was rather easy when it came to soothing his ward. "It was just a bad dream."

"Oh, Uncle Soteres. I'm sorry I woke you up." - boy began his traditional apologizing, but Severus stopped him.

"We don't choose our dreams, Desi. Besides, I wasn't asleep in the first place. And now that you are as well, why don't we go to that pool from yesterday?"

**........................................................................**

One hour later, they were as ready for the day as it was possible. The guard, yawning and stumbling led them to Gwendal's office, and left them there. They looked at each other and Snape knocked at the door.

**........................................................................**

The sun was in its early stage of its journey across the sky when Demon Army Commander was already sitting in his office and wasting himself away upon newly arrived reports. That was boring, but important work which couldn't be escaped. Gwendal sighed as he put away one more report, and looked at the clock. It showed eight in the morning. There was still time before recuperating Shifters would wake up and invade his office. He counted on at least two more hours of being undisturbed. His musings were interrupted by cautious knock on the door. "Come in!", he shouted expecting his brother Konrart bring more of those damned reports. However, the opened door revealed Ramiel and Eskil without a trace of sleepiness on their faces.

"You're up early.", - Gwendal tried to hide his shock.

"Habit." - shrugged young man his shoulders while Eskil just raised an eyebrow, as if recognizing the question for what it was.

"So... I was informed you volunteered to help me", Gwendal began.

"That is correct", nodded Eskil.

"I prepared you a place over here.", - Gwendal stood and went over to the large table near the wall.

**........................................................................**

Harry eyed warily the swaying stack of papers that threatened to fall and scatter itself across the room. Why did he agree to it again? Ah, yes. Not to die of boredom. Though it seems that fate was unavoidable. However, to refuse now would be embarrassing!

Over the table on the wall was a large map, very detailed and old-looking. Two soft chairs were on the both sides of the table.

The air in the office was surprisingly fresh, and large windows let in enough light to make the room bright and cheerful. Therefore, Gwendal's face stuck in a worried frown contrasted with the general mood of the room.

"I need these sorted", - Gwendal was short and concise. "They are mostly complaints from citizens. I want them sorted by regions. There are also requests, which I want sorted by types. All financial requests go to one side, all requests for people support go to the other side, and all requests for material support like equipment, or clothes go to the third stack. Also, there should be separate stack for reports marked 'urgent'. Those are marked on the top and are easily recognized. Any questions?"

Harry just shook his head and sat on the nearest chair, soon followed by Snape. Gwendal returned to his table, and room became enveloped by silence, disturbed only by soft rustling of papers and pen-scratching.

**........................................................................**

Three hours later the stack was considerably lower, and both Severus and Harry had much better understanding of the inner workings of the demon army and general problems of Shin Makoku's citizens. That came with the price in the form of a terrible hunger, however. Not that Harry or Severus would act on it. Both were used to working without paying attention to hunger, tiredness or pain, so all in all, they were lost in work and would work until they would have run out of reports to read and sort if not for Gwendal. Luckily for them, Gwendal was suffering from the same symptoms, and everyone in the castle knew it. At eleven o'clock sharp the door suddenly opened, and Konrart 's head appeared.

**........................................................................**

"How it's going? You haven't smothered our guests with reports, yet, Gwendal?"

"No", - replied his brother without lifting eyes from the report he was currently reading.

"I brought you lunch." - large tray in Konrart's hands was full of deliciously-looking fruits and sandwiches. There was even a pitcher with something yellowish.

"Later", - Gwendal's voice left no arguments to convince him otherwise.

"What about you?" - Konrart decided to try his luck with Shifters. - "Eskil? Ramiel?"

"I'm not hun.." - began Ramiel, but fierce growl from his stomach betrayed him. He blushed as a tomato, and Konrart chuckled at that. He put the tray on the corner of the table.

"You both should eat well. You are recovering, after all." - Konrart's eyes twinkled in amusement, but Eskil just scowled in reply. Nonetheless, Konrart smiled at them one more time, and left the room.

**........................................................................**

Harry took one fruit and sniffed it. It smelled strange, but pleasant at the same time. He bit into it. Several seconds later an expression of utter bliss appeared on his face.

"Uncle Soteres, try it!" - he shouted excitedly, grabbing similar fruit from the tray and thrusting before his Uncle's face. Big mistake, it turned out.

"I'm not hungry!", - Soteres snapped. Harry flinched and immediately withdrew into himself. He could feel irritation and slight anger at interruption, and that never meant anything pleasant for him in the future.

"Sorry", - he whispered miserably.

**........................................................................**

The moment Severus uttered the words he regretted it. The boy drew into himself as if expecting a blow.

"I'm sorry, Desi...", - he wished he could turn time back and stop himself. "Habits are hard to get rid of... Give this fruit to me, I'll try it." - Severus stretched his hand towards Desi and waited patiently for the boy to put strange-looking purple fruit into his palm.

The fruit turned out to be of excellent taste, and Severus promised to himself to find out what it was later. For now though... Once he ate the fruit he discovered he was still hungry for more, so both of them digged in ravenously in the food, and cleared the tray in the matter of minutes. After that they returned to their work, or at least attempted to.

"Gwendal! Oh, Gwendal! I need you!" - woman's voice echoed somewhere from corridors behind the door.

Severus turned to look at demon in question and blinked. Stern, intimidating, obey-me-or-suffer-the-consequences demon was gone, and on his place was terrified man with someone-please-hide-me-save-me expression on the face. Nevill Longbottom could look like this after discovering smiling Voldemort or irate Snape himself in full battle mode with wand ready on his doorstep. Or both at the same time. Dursleys probably looked like that when they saw salivating werewolves coming into their cells in Voldemort's manor. It was the look of pure and simple terror.

Desi's reaction, however, puzzled him. The boy didn't look scared, but confused instead. He kept glancing at the door in wonder, and shrugged at silent question on Severus' face. Potions Master moved closer to him - just in case - and turned to the door.

Finally it flew open banging on the wall, and Severus stared. He stared and stared some more. He also gaped.

The vision before him took his breath away. Tall and exceptionally beautiful woman with rich cherry coloured hair (also reminding him of ripe raspberry somehow) and the most azure eyes he had ever seen stood there with hands on her sides.

"Gwendal! I need you immediately in my laboratory! Your papers can certainly wait!" - her eyes twinkled mischievously.

"Anissina," - growled demon in response grasping at the report before him as drowning man for the life-buoy*, - "I don't have time for this... Could you grab Günter instead?"

"Oh, but Günter is having lunch with His Majesty, so I can't interrupt them. Günter is busy." - Anissina shrugged non-chalantly.

Gwendal's eye twitched, and his hands released the paper and began making some strange gestures.

"Busy?! You call that busy? Well, I'm going to lunch also soon. In fact, I'm going to have it right now! So, go away and find yourself another victim for your experiments!"

"Hmphf!", - woman snorted derisively and turned ready to go away, but then glanced back and said with the sweet smile to Gwendal:

"If you're lying to me, I'll find out, so... You better be telling truth. Or else... "

And she was off.

Only when Desi touched his palm softly Severus realized that he was still staring dazedly at the spot where mysterious woman was earlier.

"Who was she?" - he asked Gwendal, his heart beating madly in chest. He couldn't understand how this demoness - Anissina - made him lose his composure so easily. He was master of his emotions, and still...

"That was Anissina von Chrennikov. She is our scientist and inventor." - Gwendal still looked a bit shaken.

Severus hummed thoughtfully.

**........................................................................**

Harry liked being in Gwendal's room, surprisingly. Reading reports was interesting as a lot of them were funny being made by simple villagers, and looking through them was easy enough. Both Gwendal and Soteres emanated waves of calmness and almost meditative concentration on the work. He didn't notice flow of time, so Konrart's visit took him unaware and brought splashes of amusement into the room. Anissina's arrival, however, threw him off balance. Terror mixed with irritation and resignation from one side, wonder and excitement from other side, and evil glee, but without harmful intentions from the strange demoness confused him. Most of all he was puzzled by his Uncle's reaction. What in Merlin's name? Could it be that his guardian, the iron Potion Master, the Great Dungeon Bat, liked raspberry-haired demoness? He did, didn't he?

Harry felt so lonely all of sudden. Even a bit betrayed? This wasn't Soteres' fault.... Harry felt he should be happy for his guardian, and well, he was... but at the same time he couldn't shake off feeling of being burden again. How could his guardian pursue his chance for happiness if he was stuck with Harry? Stupid nuisance, he was always bringing problems and nothing but problems to others. If it wasn't for his damn empathy, everyone would be happy!

Harry was wallowing in misery and despair, unknowingly to Severus, and couldn't fall in that tranquil state he possessed earlier this morning. Gwendal went to lunch, and brought them along, and after that he sent them to the garden near the castle while he himself returned to finish paperwork for today. Severus' thoughts wandered somewhere faraway, though Harry guessed where. They walked in silence for ten minutes before Harry gave up and asked:

"Uncle Soteres, when will you start teaching me Occlumency?"

**........................................................................**

Severus raised an eyebrow. Something was up with the boy. He was too contemplative, too quiet, and too worried. What could happen, for Morgana's sake? Everything was normal this morning.... except for the incident at lunch, and Anissina's coming? But it couldn't be demoness, as she turned out to be not a threat - for them, anyway - therefore it was that he snapped at Desi. Of course! It was then that Harry became withdrawn! What has he done... Desi probably was scared that his new Uncle will become just like the old one, or worse! And he couldn't even escape if he wished cause he was tied to his guardian's emotions... Of course he wished to learn Occlumency as soon as possible! He didn't want to be tied to someone he couldn't trust anymore... Oh, Lily! How ashamed should she be of him right now... Damn those bloody papers! Damn his habits and damn those relatives of Desi! Damn...

Severus noticed fearful look on the boy's face, and cursed again. Now Desi was probably thinking he was angry with the boy, when he was angry with himself! He sighed.

"I'm not angry with you, Desi. I'm frustrated with myself. It was me who should have thought of this without being reminded. If you want to keep your empathy in secrecy, you should be able to be separated from me. We can begin right now if you wish..." - he wanted to show the boy that he trusted him and respected his wish to become independent from him, and wasn't going to object or purposefully create obstacles.

Desi didn't look scared anymore, but he seemed thoughtful. Maybe he understood hidden message in his careful reply.

**........................................................................**

"I was right...", - Harry thought, - "He must feel terrible stuck with me... How didn't I think of this before? He values his privacy most of anything, and here I am - invading it! Intruding on his feelings! He probably can't wait to get rid of burden like me! He is even ready to start lessons right now! And I only have myself to blame... What was I thinking clinging to him like that? Crying on him? He may go by another name, but he's still my ex-Potions Professor. He is still Snape inside, isn't he?" And I'm a Potter. Him saving me doesn't necessarily mean he has to like me. He even told as much to Sirius. Siri... Whay couldn't I stay with you, and Mum, and Dad, and Moony? But... I promised Draco to take care of his godfather, and I'm not going to break my word. I won't be a burden to Soteres! I will learn Occlumency!"

With the new resolve Harry vowed to make every possible effort to learn how to protect his mind and emotions, and start as soon as he could. Right now. Besides, he didn't want to disappoint his guardian who was even angry at himself for not starting the lessons earlier!

"All right", - he nodded. - "I'd like to begin now. What do I have to do?"

"Well, as we can't use Legillimency, we'll have to try another way", - Soteres said slowly, and Harry felt a pang of disappointment from him.

"It's cause he can't use it on me anymore", Harry realized. He could remember distinctly how his Potions Master told him once (more like snarled at the time) that Legillimency method was the fastest one. Now they had to go slowly, though...

"First of all, you have to learn meditation", - continued Soteres in his teacher mode. - "There are several parts to that. Relaxation, concentration, and visualization. We'll begin with the relaxation first."

**........................................................................**

To Severus' and Harry's own astonishment, this part came naturally to the boy. It didn't matter if he was sitting cross-legged, or lying on the grass, or even leaning on the wall - he was able to relax completely in a matter of seconds. That seemed like a miracle. What they both didn't take into consideration was Harry's life at Dursleys. To survive constant beatings and exhausting chores from his enslaving relatives Harry's body had to adapt to being in almost permanent stress. Every other possible moment it was as relaxed as humanly possible to preserve energy. Besides, damage done by beatings was less when body wasn't tensed, so Harry knew how to instantly relax, he just wasn't as conscious about that before.

**........................................................................**

Inspired by success, Harry immediately asked to be taught concentration, but his Uncle refused:

"We'll try it later in the evening when I see that you truly know the first part well enough and prove that it's not a fluke..."

Harry didn't want to wait, but knew better than to object to his Potions Master. He didn't even dare to show his displeasure and sulk.

**........................................................................**

They were lounging on the bench near the fountain when Yuuri found them. Exuberant Demon King fell out of the bushes and frantically signaled at them to be quiet. They complied more out of surprise than anything and were rewarded with an explanation in the form of loud shouting from the castle:

"HEIKAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!"

They both looked at the person in question, but Yuuri just hissed at them:

"Later...". and hid in the bushes again.

"HEIKAAAA!!!!" - now the shout sounded closer, and several minutes later violet-haired demon emerged from other side of the fountain.

"Oh! Eskil-sama! How lucky am I to meet you here! Have you seen His Majesty? He escaped from his lessons again...", - Günter exclaimed.

Both Severus and Harry shook their heads negatively.

"Oh, no.... Why does His Majesty dislike me so?" - moaned demon in desperation. Then his eyes began to twinkle, and Shifters shivered. Eye-twinkling meant nothing good for them ever...

"Lord Eskil, Lord Ramiel, you aren't busy right now, are you? I could begin teaching you about most important customs of Shin Makoku, and neighborhood countries." - he dreamily eyed Eskil while he told this.

**........................................................................**

Much as he wanted to jump and run away, Severus knew that sooner or later they will have to take lessons with Günter, and delaying won't solve anything, so he agreed with impassive face. Desi looked like sentenced to death, but stayed silent, and they followed Günter to the castle, then to the dungeons and then they entered some dusty, smelling of old parchment room. It was full of maps, books and papers lying around. It was the room of the scholar.

Günter tortured them until Desi fell asleep right through the middle of his speech about Dai Shimaron, and only then Severus decided that this was it for the day, and left carrying the sleeping boy.

Silently he entered their room only to find histerical servant girl there.

"Lord Eskil! Oh, there you are! Where have you been? You missed dinner! Should I bring it here right now? Will you go to kitchen later?" - she finally noticed snoring Desi and gasped.

"Shinou! Is the boy all right? Should I call Lady Gizela? What happened?"

"Calm down!" - snapped Severus at her. He hated rambling and panicking being calm and cool-headed in all kinds of situations (well, except those involving Anissina). - "He's merely asleep. As for dinner, we'll come to kitchens later, so you have no need for worry. If you don't mind, I'd like to rest for a while."

Girl left flushed with embarrassment, and Severus sighed in relief. He put Desi on the bed, and came to the window. Resting his forehead on the cool glass, he closed his eyes. He lied to the girl, of course. He just wanted to be left alone and think. His Occlumency shields were down for a long time, and as much as he needed to practice them, he couldn't do it with Desi around, and couldn't leave Desi alone. However, he could try simple meditating and even Shifting. Deciding that no time like present he sat in the middle of the room, and blanked his mind without blocking flow of emotions outwardly. He centered and reached out to the deepest part of his conscience. The brightly glowing ball with four coloured tentacles appeared before him, and he immediately noticed that one of the tentacles emanating blue glow was pulsing slowly. Strange... He was here before, but his core never looked like this. Was that like Shifter's core looked like? Interesting... He touched pulsing tentacle gently and immediately knew it was holding his most humanly looking form. Hmmm... He inspected the tentacle radiating greenish glow, and touched it. For a moment world stilled, and then it exploded around him. Pleasure, pain, numbness mixed in one flooded him, and he felt his body changing. He knew what he was changing into, and only years of staying calm helped him to hold himself from panicking. Acceptance, he reminded himself in a haze. _Acceptance..._ _I accept..._

He breathed hard in the middle of the room on all fours though how he got in this position he had no idea. Trembling he got up and swayed unsteadily. He knew how he was supposed to look after touching green core-tentacle, but to know is one thing, and to see is completely another. He looked on his hands and couldn't avert the eyes. His hands were completely black. They were not simply black, however. They seemed to suck out light from surroundings, and he knew that almost every part of his skin looked exactly like this. He had alabaster white claws which were also razor sharp. His arms also had several stripes as were his legs, sides and even face in tiger-like manner. The stripes made of scales looked exotic enough varying in color and size. On his arms they were soft green and white, while on his legs they were of pearl-blue color. On the face they were white and blue, and intertwined around his eyes, on his cheekbones, and on his forehead. His hair stayed the same length, but they turned dark-blue with white tips. Severus had to admit that all in all he was undeniably beautiful in extremely exotic way... He looked like some bloody perverted Veela, for Merlin's sake! Like some mutant perverted Veela! The only thing he liked about his new appearance were his eyes. They became emerald green like Lily's...and Desi's when he had been a wizard.

He clenched his fist and flexed muscles in the arms a bit. Energy buzzed in him calling to run, to hunt, to stalk... He looked at himself in the mirror and frowned. It would be impossible to walk around like that. Well, if they came to live in the mountains where no sentient being was around, then...

Sharp intake of breath distracted him, and he turned only to find Desi looking at him with mouth hanging open and perfectly round eyes. The boy was gaping like fish.

"U-u-u-ncle Soteres?"

"Yes, it's me", - snorted Severus. - "It's my Secunda form apparently. Ridiculous! I look like a complete.."

"You look awesome!" - interrupted him Desi. - "You look great!"

Severus looked at him with doubt but decided to swallow his not very nice reply. He proceeded to inspect his reflection.

**........................................................................**

Harry awakened to see the most strange creature in his room. As if a piece of cosmic Darkness itself shaped as human came into the world, or to be precise into his room. The being emanated irritation and slight displeasure, and his empathy scanner defined it as his Uncle. So his guardian managed to Shift into Secunda form. That was... wow... just wo-o-ow. Harry wandered if his own Secunda form looked nearly as beautiful and exotic as what he saw right now. For whatever reason Uncle Soteres disliked his Secunda form, however. He kept looking at his claws and sneering at his own reflection. His glare lost some of its previous edge, but retained power contained within, and somehow made it more scary. His Uncle was intimidating before, but now... now he really looked like those demons from fairy-tales (or more like scary-tales) of their world, and it ...made Harry feel safe. For the whole of two minutes until he remembered that his Uncle couldn't wait to be free of him...

**........................................................................**

Their silence was interrupted by loud sound of crash, and as they both turned to the door they saw a frightened girl and the tray at her feet. Their dinner was smashed on the floor. Then the girl opened her mouth and screamed like a banshee. If there were a wall next to him, Snape would begin to hit his head on it...

* life-buoy - device that sailors throw into the water to help drowning people stay on the surface of water until brought onboard, or into safety

A/N: Thank you everyone who pointed out mistakes!


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: (falling to my knees and wailing) Mercy! I'm begging mercy for being so late with my update! Please, pretty please, don't kill me? Life is such an addictive thing, don't you agree? There is family, and work, and my cat, and all these little things, and then you get so tired that your muse turns into whisper of promise and leaves you alone with Morpheus... But I promise, I'll get better at this.

Hmm, this chapter is unbetaed, too. My usual beta teenwitch18 got tied up with life even more than me, so you get the picture... I have a hope she won't abandon me completely, meanwhile.... I would appreciate if people would point out my most obvious mistakes, at least. Don't forget, I'm not native English-speaker, so bear with me.

Disclaimer: Mine... mine.... my precious.... THUMP. Yeowch! All right, you bloody author rights. Nor HarryPotter, nor Kyou Kara Maou are mine. Never have been, and never - oh, God, how can I live with that?! (punching the wall in frustration) - never will be mine! Unless I relocate to another dimension where they never existed so I could reinvent them and introduce to the world anew. Ah, what a dream...

Chapter 11

Apparently, the castle was always full of soldiers and most of them tended to patrol close to Snape and Harry's room, cause there was no other explanation to sudden military invasion of their living quarters. Soldiers took one look at Severus in Secunda form and clutched their weapons like comfort blankets. The most brave pointed their swords at that strange-looking creature, and the most smart noticed that the boy on the bed wasn't scared at all while the creature itself wasn't behaving in aggressive manner. The situation was resolved with the appearance of Gwendal who immediately recognized facial features of the creature as his recent volunteer Eskil.

"Lord Eskil, I assume that is your another form, isn't it?

"Yes, it is so." - the creature answered in resonating deep and melodic voice.

"I see. May I ask what transpired here?"

"Hmm. I've decided to try Shifting while waiting for the dinner, but it took more time than I thought and the servant maiden saw me like this. I look intimidating I would guess, so she screamed for help. I apologize for the commotion."

"I see..." - repeated Gwendal. He glanced at the servant girl. By that time the girl in question understood that there was no threat at all and now was blushing violently looking on the floor and sneaking glances at the strange guest.

"You may go." - the Demon Army Commander dismissed soldiers. "And you..." - the girl twitched in nervousness - "...bring another tray with food, and this time, try not to drop it on the floor. Which is in need of cleaning, by the way."

"Right away, Gwendal-sama!" - the girl ran away.

Gwendal never ever saw something so beautiful and dangerous. When Maou assumed his demonic form, it was awe-inspiring and intimidating, but never threatening for his senses. Now... All of his essence screamed that he was in the presence of predator and had to be wary. With effort he managed to keep his face calm and sent soldiers away. There was no reason to keep them here. Then several thoughts at once came to him. First was that now humans will have more difficulty to believe demons to be friendly and harmless than before. That is, if they saw Lord Eskil as he was now. Second thought was about Ramiel. Was his form as beautiful and deadly? And finally, how will Günter react to this?

"This aside, are you allright here?" - Gwendal took in tired face of Ramiel.

"Oh, yes. Everything is fine." - the young man replied with cheerful tone which sounded completely fake to demon lord. Gwendal nodded to Eskil, then to Ramiel, and left the room.

* * *

The evening went rather quiet after that. Severus returned to his more human-like form and spent some time explaining to Harry what he had done to achieve transformation. Harry listened with open mouth, trying to memorize every word and forgetting for the time being about his decision not to be a burden anymore.

In the morning they wandered around the castle and somehow found themselves in the dungeons. Well, Harry followed his guardian silently lost in his thoughts, and Severus always liked dungeons where he felt most at peace. It was in the dungeons, that he hided from Griffindor and Slytherin bullies alike. It was there that he licked his wounds after "meetings" with Voldemort. More like torture sessions. It was there that he grieved for his precious Lily and later inability to change somehow his course of fate, when he realized what a fool he was to trust Dumbledore. It was there that he could hide from suspicious and hateful gazes of his students. It was there...

And now it was here that he heard that delightful laugh again. He stopped abruptly, and listened. Yes... It was further ahead, from the door on the right. He cautiously approached and knocked, Harry trailing behind him. The door opened and that demoness from before – Anissina – looked out.

"What a wonderful surprise!" - she exclaimed and dragged both inside. "You are those guests from another world! What a mystery! Would you mind answering some questions?"

Considering Snape's face, he was ready to die of starvation if need be to stay here and talk with this astonishing woman for as long as she asked. Harry tentatively checked his guardian's emotions and nearly sobbed. Such an exhiliriating joy! So much happiness! What was he going to do now? He didn't mind staying here all day, but he felt as if he intruded into something very fragile and intimate. As if he was a wall between the two. He couldn't bear this anymore and slipped from the room. _I'm not a baby! - _he thought angrily_, - "So what if I don't know Occlumency? I survived Voldemort's torture when I was empath already! I survived the Battle! I survived! And I can be by myself! I just... I thought... Whatever.... I will just go sit in the park and try to meditate."_ The echo of Snape's emotions got weaker and weaker, and disappeared alltogether. Harry grew nervous and tried to go faster. Darkness and creepiness in the surroundings reminded him of the time with Voldemort. There were no people here, and emptiness where emotional background should have been made him disoriented.

Of course, with his luck, he got lost in the dungeons.

* * *

Severus spent considerable time talking with Anissina before he even noticed that the boy was gone. They discussed different uses of potions, and Anissina introduced him to her incredible inventions. It costed him all his strength not to burst out laughing after hearing the names of those machines, but he managed it. They laughed and joked, and then Severus finally noticed that Desi was nowhere to be seen. He apologized before Anissina and left frowning. Ha...Desi knew that they had to be together all the time. Stupid boy! He will only harm himself like that. Was that his tantrum or something else? Did he become hungry and went to kitchens? He checked the kitchens, but no one saw the boy there. Severus hurried to their room, but it was empty, too. With increasing worry in his heart he went to the garden where he taught Desi how to relax, but there was only Konrart there who haven't seen Desi either.

"I can't find him anywhere", - admitted Severus. - "I'm worried he could have fainted somewhere. He left when I was talking with Lady Anissina."

"Understandable." - Konrart nodded. - "Many try to run from her clutches."

Severus blinked puzzled, but didn't say anything.

"All right, I will help you."

However, the search brought no results. Seeing worry bordering with fear on Eskil's face, Anissina, Gwendal and Günter joined the search as well. Still, there were no sign of the boy...

* * *

Wolfram von Bielfield returned home late in the afternoon tired, confused and lost in thoughts. His mission went successfully and all bandits were arrested and brought to justice. However, something was amiss. As much as he was glad to finally see Yuuri, he anticipated seeing another face more. Why? Why was it so painful to think about Yuuri's friend? Murata was strange, mysterious and sneaky. He was communicating with Shinou himself. He was Daikenja, The Great Sage. Well, he was reincarneted Great Sage, but still. He was... much more great than Wolfram himself. He was handsome and smart, and brave. Wolfram may be a son of previous Maou, skillful demon-mage and warrior, but for someone like Murata... What was he for Murata? Fiancé of a friend? Hot-tempered demon brat? Well, Wolfram had to admit, he could throw a tantrum and often acted rashly, but was he really that bad? Why did Murata avoid him so much lately? Avoided being in his presence or looking at his face? And what should he do now with Yuri? Refusal of marriage after accepting proposal was a grave offence to Maou. Yuuri would understand, of course, but how could he look at anyone after that? At Yuuri himself? At Murata?

His musings were interrupted when he was literally knocked off his feet.

"I apologize!" - he heard the shout from rapidly running away human. Human? Here, in Maou Castle, human running away? It must be an assassin! Was Yuuri harmed?! Wolfram took out his sword and ran after the human. He will show those stupid hateful barbarians! How dare they attack Maou? Despite his lack of feelings of true love for Yuuri, Wolfram was definitely possessive of him. No one will dare to harm Yuuri and get away with it! He was gaining on human when on the crosssection between corridors human suddenly stopped looking somewhere to the right.

"Have you seen him?" - human asked someone in the corridor, and ...Yuuri's voice replied!

"No..."

"I haven't seen him either!" - from corridor on the left appeared Günter with worried face.

"Have you some idea why he ran off?" - from corridor on the right finally came out Yuuri with Gwendal who asked the question.

"I honestly don't know!" - human looked on the floor. - "He was acting a bit strange after lunch yesterday, but I thought we got over it. I didn't think... I should have known..."

"Will someone tell me what's going on?" - Wolfram snapped at gathered.

"Oh, Wolfram! Welcome home! I hope the mission was a success? You'll tell Gwendal later, as for what happened... This is Lord Eskil, a traveller from another world, not Yuuri's, but similar, and he seems to have lost his ward, young Ramiel. Well, not really young, Yuuri's age, apparently. We'd be grateful if you lent us help..." - Günter rambled.

"Of course." - grumbled Wolfram hiding the sword. Again he showed himself a complete fool chasing someone innocent...

"I still don't understand why are you panicking so much? We'll find him sooner or later. He is not a baby. He is a strong young man from what I gathered." - Gwendal wondered aloud.

Severus felt worthless and miserable. More than usual. In his excitement over talking with Anissina – in whom he found his twin-soul – he completely forgot about Harry. Now he reaped the results of what he sowed. Harry was nowhere to be found and Severus was ready to pull his hair out from worry. How could he?! Severus wasn't even sure, to whom his outrage applied more – to Harry or Severus himself – but he couldn't rid of this thought. How could he... And now... He either has to pull some lie on them or tell the truth... And while he was good at lying – or he would be dead long ago – he could do more harm to Harry with his lies. They have to understand why he was in such worry.

"I... omitted something during our tale. Desi... he is an empath."

"I still don't see the urgency. What is an empath?" - admitted Günter.

"It means he can feel what other people feel, right?" - Yuuri looked surprised.

"Yes."

"I reiterate. Why is such urgency with finding him?" - Gwendal frowned.

"Let me see. He was tortured for several months by Voldemort and his followers to the brink of death after being healed back while feeling all the sick pleasure and hate from his torturers, then he became a conduit for some unknown power which killed off all Death Eaters on the battlefield – almost hundred of them, including Voldemort – and again while feeling their pain and terror, and let me think... right! After that he felt all disgust and hate those foolish cowards under Dumbledore's thumb directed at their saviour! Among which were his friends, for whom he refused to break while in captivity! And now... He got bonded with me to stabilize his mental awareness. That is why I need to be always near him. For the near future, at least. Without me he could have panick attack, loose himself in memories and break completely. He is very fragile mentally now. That he was abused for all of his life doesn't help either in any way, only worsens the situation!"

Wolfram, having no previous knowledge about history of Shifters' arrival in Shin Makoku, could only gape during this tirade. What in the Shinou's name?... He suddenly flinched catching the look on his brother's face. Gwendal looked... terrifying. His face contorted in rage, chalky white with blazing eyes. Usually ocean blue, they became nearly black and narrowed into two slits. Though, truth to be told, Günter was scary in his own right. He looked furious as well and as if in deep pain. Watered eyes were questioning and accusing; Yuuri... Yuuri simply cried. Wolfram turned away. He couldn't stand to see Yuuri crying.

"And you... Just what do you think you were doing not informing us of that?!" - Gwendal lost any ability to speak calmly and hissed like an angry snake. - "In the castle full of soldiers and people who were just through the terrible war and battles! How could you hide information like this?! You should have told us!"

"Oh, you think so?!" - exploded Eskil. - "Why should I have? After being betrayed by the closest thing I ever had to a father, mentor and grand-father? After living all my life when I couldn't trust anyone, even myself, because it meant death and torture? When I had to erase my own memories to fool Voldemort and Dumbledore alike? When I had to lie to my only friend so I could save her life?! And you! You tell me I should have trusted virtual strangers whom I saw for the first time in my life with something that could be used against not only me, but my ward! The only son of my only friend who died because of me! Because I was stupid enough to tell Voldemort about Prophecy and he killed her! He killed her and tried to kill her son! And I couldn't even protect him! He was tortured! By this madman and I could only wait... For months! You hear me, for months he was tortured! And I still can't protect him! Not even from myself! I've already failed my godson! He... he was killed just two weeks ago and I was his godfather! I cannot protect them... I'm always late..." - his voice broke.

Never did Wolfram see his brother nor Günter looking so lost and helpless.

"We'll find him." - after short silence finally spoke Gwendal. - "And... I'm sorry I accused you. I would act the same in your situation, I think. I'm sorry."

The search continued for two hours already, but there was no sign of Ramiel. Anissina took on herself the park near the castle, Conrart decided to search through side buildings along with Yuuri. Günter and Wolfram went to the upper part of the castle and Gwendal with Severus went to the dungeons. After his outburst Severus fell silent and spoke little, but in his eyes everyone could see the echo of deep burning pain. Of course, Severus himself didn't know it; what he felt, however, was strange for him. He felt almost lightheaded and dizzy as if some part of the stone that weighed heavily on his heart, chipped off and disappeared. It felt good, to rant. Who would have thought? Maybe teenagers had a point in venting their emotions and thoughts in similar manner... Speaking of teenagers... Where in Merlin's name could that child hide?

* * *

Harry, to his credit, didn't panick immediately when he realized that he was lost. Really, the Castle while large was smaller than Hogwarts, and certainly didn't contain magical traps and dangerous beasts inside. He tried to orient himself by walking and holding the right wall only, but that led nowhere. Then he began to walk around aimlessly, and somehow got into the deeper part of the dungeons. Castle was built on the rock, and stretched deep into the earth. The First Maou and his faithful companion Daikenja liked to experiment, and liked to do it without watchful eyes. So they did it in the dungeons that slowly were turning into natural caves under the Castle. It was here that Harry really panicked. The coldness and darkness around were creeing into his very bones, the feeling of rough rock under his fingers reminded him of his cell, and sudden noises of invisible critters and rodents were making his heart beat wildly. He ran blindly with eyes closed stretching his arms out and bending the head. He knew that it wasn't smart thing to do, but... he _had_ to do something. Anything. Just not to stay in one place. Not to stop moving. He ran until he bumped into a wall and gasping he opened his eyes. Absolute darkness was all around him. He went farther than the lights from last torches were reaching. Wildly he turned back and stumbled. He fell down. Briefly he felt some sharp pain on the side of his head and after that there was blissful darkness.

When he came back to conscience, everything was the same as before. Cold, dark and terrifying. He reached out and touched his head. It felt sticky and hurt, and after licking his fingers he understood it was blood.

_ Flashback begins..._

* * *

..._Blood... on his fingers, on his face, on his body... _

"_Do you like my present, Potter?" - high, cold and amused voice demanded. - "Do you? I brought him for you. Sssspecially." Ah, favourite entertainment._

_Broken body of unknown boy lied in front of him. Still alive, still bleeding, still pleading. Harry tried to stop the blood knowing helplessly that it was no use. The curse won't allow it._

"_Kill him. Stop his suffering." - silver knife thrown to him. _

_Eyes pleading. "Kill me! Help me! Do something!". _

_No! He won't do it. Never! Never... He threw the knife away asking forgiveness silently from the poor boy. _

"_Interesting! I see you have no mercy, Harry... What would your mother say?" - grimace twisted Dark Lord's face. "But let's see how he repays it. You, muggle! If you want to die without pain and quickly, play with him. Just don't kill him, or you will regret it. Take the knife. Curio." _

_Healed Muggle shook and grabbed the knife. "Forgive me... Forgive me..." Harry smiled weakly. _

_.........................................End flashback_

Scream... Where did the scream come from? Oh, it was him. Right. Harry shivered. Voldemort was dead. No one will hurt him here like that. Never again. It was in the past. Memories can't hurt, right? They can't! Besides, he is strong! So, he is lost. Nothing new. He will just go back and find his way out. It's that simple. ..._Too silent...too dark... _Step by step, he was walking away from the wall. Making sure the ground was there, and no sudden stalactites from above. Step, another step. Wall. He was in front of another wall. Why was it here? Where was the exit? He went along the wall with dread. Where is the exit?! The wall seemed to be round. Column? Huge column? Feeling suddenly weak he slided down the wall and hugged his knees. What could he do now? He began to shake.

After what seemed like hours, Harry was too spent and tired to panic anymore. He felt empty instead. No one will ever find him here because no one in the first place will guess to look here. He had to think of something himself. What could he do? His eyes while improved definitely couldn't see in the darkness. His hearing was better but not by much, and there was nothing to listen to. If he were a bat and had echolocators, he could see the way, but as he was a Shifter... Hmm. Now that was a thought. Could he perhaps see in the dark in his Secunda form? His wings were useless in the caves, but what about other senses? Uncle Soteres... Snape... whatever! _He_ turned into the second form without any problems, at first try. Harry may be younger and not so experienced – in some disciplines – but he could conjure Patronus at thirteen! He just had to have right motivation. Saving your own life was a right one in his opinion.

Harry calmed down and breathed deeply. Closing his eyes brought a strange comfort to him. He was still in the dark, but now he felt like he was in control of darkness. He slipped into a trance easily. Usually he couldn't calm down emotions for long, but now, when he felt so empty, he found it simple to do. His core shined deep inside him. He reached for it, went closer and closer. White amorphic blob with four tentacles and silver-coloured ribbon around it was brilliant. Now, which of the tentacles was the Second form? Right now, the soft blue one was pulsing slightly. There were also dark-blue, almost black in its intensity tentacle, sunlike golden with silver vines and metallic mercury-grey. Hmm... Snape seemed to know what was responsible for each tentacle of the core, but his were differently coloured. Harry slowly reached out to the grey tentacle and withdrew rapidly back. Thunder Falcon! No, he needed Secunda form first. What about deep blue one? Oh, Shadow Panther. Well, there were enough of Shadows around him, but Sirius told he had to transform in right order first. So, the only one left was golden one. He reached out and touched it. The moment he saw his form, he accepted it joyously and bubble-like laugh rose in his chest. Why did Snape said it was difficult? It wasn't! It was exhiliriating and wonderful, and not scary at all! And more than that, it was very convinient for him right now. He embraced the change and his world exploded in gold...

Deep in the dungeons strange creature awoke. Short hair, soft and shining, were brilliant pale yellow. Emerald eyes with vertical slits had narrow almond shape, and seemed to glow as well. But the most peculiar was his skin. Soft violet tinge to it contrasted with silver and golden web tattoo that covered all of the body. The face, the palms, the feet, the chest – everything – was in entwining glowing thin vines. Of course, there were also wings. The creature spread them and they dwarfed small body with their size. White as the first snow, and brilliantly shining, they illuminated the cave somewhat. He was like the sun that somehow got brought into the darkness of the caves. Eyes looked around and glowing silver lips curved into a smile.

Harry was glowing with happiness literally. He forgot about his troubles and problems. There was only now and here existing. His new senses and the suddenly clear and breathtakingly beautiful world around him. The glow from his body and wings weren't enough to lighten up the entire cave, but he could see easily anyway. And what he could see! He was right, by the way. It _was_ a column. One of many in a cave so huge, he could only guess why the Castle didn't fall down. The walls were dark grey for his eyes, but the air... _Oh, the air._.. He could _see_ the air flows. Fresh air torrents were pale blue, the colder the darker, and the air around himself were tinged golden. The air high above, near the ceiling was moving fast and murky brown. Near the floor it was white with dirty-grey spots. Like dirty snow. Sometimes he could see small spirals of blue wind curling near columns. Then there were water puddles and drops on the columns shining in brilliant silver. The cave was luminiscent. It was beautiful. He forgot why he transformed and simply stared mesmerized.

He would have stared more if his stomach didn't growl like Moony on the full moon spotting a prey. Blinking he came out of his stupor and folding the wings studied the cave. Hmm. There were several spots where the fresh air was coming from. Several were too high to be the one he came from. One was somewhere far on the other side of the cave, and he decided it was doubtful he came from there. Now, not far from where he stood, was another spot right...in the...column. Strange. He approached the column and saw that the air was coming through the narrow doorway in the column. There were no stairs leading up, but the floor, while flat, was raising in zigzag spiral up. He followed blue wind. To him it seemed like he was swimming in a blue fog river. He shivered and breathed deep. Didn't he really notice that he ran in circle while he ran?

He was walking for quiet some time when the corridor became narrowier and narrowier, and finally he saw it joining with another corridor. This one was lit by torches, and Harry sighed with relief. He chose the right way. Now, should he go left or right? The air flows were coming from both sides, almost like two lanes in the traffic. He snorted and chose left. If he is wrong, he can always return back.

* * *

Gwendal von Walde was always rational and calm, so he couldn't understand at all why he was ready to run around the dungeons and shout Ramiel's name over and over. Eskil had no hesitation to do this at all. He even knocked over poor Wolfram doing so. Little brother thought him to be an escaping assassin even and tried to chase, but thankfully, the situation was clarified for him quickly. Hm, if that was Yuuri who vanished, he would run like that also, Gwendal mused. Still, how do you find someone in a Blood Pledge Castle? There were a lot of hiding spaces here, and only blind luck could help them.

Gwendal couldn't forget the intense and wary stare he received from the boy during their first meeting. When Ramiel was conscious, that is. His proud, but broken stature. His soft voice like small bells. _His bleeding body in his arms as he ran to Gizela and tremulous, weak breaths..._ "..._For months!._."_ , - _ he remembered despair and helplessness in Eskil's voice. He imagined scared young man shivering in darkness and crying for help, for his guardian. He imagined finding him in nearly catatonic state and looking into empty eyes, or eyes mad with terror, incomprehensing. He tried to make those thought s go away, but they returned with vengeance again and again. Gwendal struck the wall with his fist. Damn it all! Even if he found Ramiel, what could he do to calm him?

Gwendal tried to listen to silence hoping to hear something that could help him. No, there were no sounds here. Gwendal turned to lower part of the dungeons and went looking into each alcove and niche, checking every room, listening to every rustle. Half-hour later, he noticed something strange: there was mysterious light ahead, moving towards him. Human-shaped light, to be exact. Gwendal never heard about something like this except when Günter became Icy Günter, so he gripped his sword tighter. Could it be? The Wincott Poison was all destroyed, wasn't it?

* * *

Harry wandered among the corridors for Merlin only knows how much time and - finally! - he caught the distant echo of someone's emotion. Worry and fear, and a bit of anger... Chewing his lower lip nervously, Harry went closer to the source of emotion, but as soon as he could see the person – who looked like a human-like blub of violet lights to him – the person's emotions turned to wariness and puzzlement. Ah, that means he was noticed as well. Harry smiled weakly and approached the person shuffling his feet. It was too late to change his form now. Besides, he felt safer being like this even though he couldn't say why exactly.

* * *

A/N: So, there are super-caves under Blood Pledge Castle in my universe... Why wouldn't they exist there? Didn't Shinou hide his super-weapon underground somewhere?

Now, about Wolfram for those who are unfamiliar with Kyou Kara Maou Universe. Taken from fan-site about KKM, not made by me.

Name: Wolfram von Bielefelt

AKA: the spoiled brat, little lord brat, selfish Pooh, the fiancée, the pretty boy

Age: 82

Race: demon

Family: mother - Cecilie, older brothers - Gwendal and Conrart

Fiancée: Yuri

Power: fire magic

Likes: to have his ways

Hates: humans

Personality: arrogant and short-tempered

Wolfram is the youngest son of the former Demon Queen. He hates humans, and hated the fact that Conrart's father was a human. Because of his pride, he wouldn't admit that Conrart is his brother, even though he does care for him. He took his engagement a whole lot more serious than Yuri did. He followed Yuri everywhere to keep an eye on him. He was getting extremely jealous whenever Yuri talked to a girl or a good-looking man, and was constantly worrying about Yuri cheating on him.

And he's extremely gorgeous as well.

More details can be found at Wikipedia if someone wants to check it out:)

Now, remember, that my fic is AU and has different pairings: SS/Anissina (as if there was any doubt), Wolfram/Murata (it took me a while to find Wolfram a soulmate, but really, they fit so good each other), Konrart/Yuuri - yeah, the perfect pair:) I still have trouble believing that in anime it's still Yuuri/Wolfram, and HP/... you should really guess already, who else if not Gwendal?


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Yehaaa! Finally! (dancing around) I finished Chapter 12 and even better, I found a new beta Mabidiso who has an awesome insight and unparalleled skills:) Praise magnificent Mabidiso, for I would be still suffering over unfinished chapter in all likelihood if I hadn't received his e-mail! ^_^ Great thank also to my previous beta teenwitch18 who helped me in the past, but then got carried away by life currents:)

Disclaimer: (crawling through the bushes) I'm gonna find them... I'm gonna steal them... (**alarm blaring**) Ah, geez:( Now I'm done. (standing up and raising my arms up) I'm surrendering, all right! Author rights to Harry Potter and Kyou Kara Maou are not mine, I admit. Now let me go! (skeddadling away rapidly) Whew! That was close...

Chapter 12

Never let it be said that Gwendal von Walde* was afraid of enemies. Enemies were a simple thing. He could destroy them one way or the other, on a battlefield or in political gambles. He wasn't afraid of battles either. For a Swordmaster like himself, it was a rare battle that was challenging enough, but he didn't complain because of that. Protecting his King, country and his family was all that mattered.

Then there was Wincott Poison. His last experience with it left a bitter taste in his mouth, no pun intended. Günter may be annoying and eccentric, but he was part of the Court, part of his extensive battle-oriented family even. He was a friend, and regarding him as an enemy, even when he knew that it was just a body, not Günter himself, was...numbing. It's not often he had to fight his mentor and friend in a real fight-to-the-death. Though that situation had a happy ending, it did not stop Gwendal from having fears of having to fight one of his friends or family to the death again.

Thus, he was extremely wary of that human-like shining figure getting closer to him. True, the dim light had a different tone to it, not blue, but soft yellow...but you never know. Demon tensed and his hand touched the handle of his sword. This was not a place for sword fighting, still...

The figure got closer and closer, and finally Gwendal could see the face of the mysterious person. He nearly didn't recognize him, but the cheekbones and the hair reminded him of just the boy he was looking for. The shape of the eyes was the same and the height was the same, he mused. Everything else was different, starting with the eye colour and ending with the wings. He relaxed his grip on the sword.

"Ramiel?" called Gwendal sharply, then softened. "Is that you?"

The boy nodded shyly but stayed silent.

"Are you injured? Where have you been? Lord Eskil was very worried about you." Gwendal studied him searching for signs of distress and injuries.

"I'm all right." Ramiel shuffled his feet a little. "I got lost in the dungeons and panicked, and then I ... well, knocked myself out accidently. When I woke up, I decided to try to get my Secunda form cause I thought it could help me to find the way out, so...it worked." He shrugged.

"Hmm." Gwendal let go of the sword handle finally. "Lord Eskil will be glad to see you are alright. He...told us of your condition..."

"My condition?" Harry was confused. What condition was Lord Gwendal talking about?

"Your empathy," - clarified Gwendal. "He was most anxious about your well being without his presence." He let a ghost of a smile emerge. "We couldn't stop him from running all over the castle. He even knocked poor little brother over and scared half of our servants."

* * *

Harry couldn't believe his ears. Snape? Worried about him? Running around? He could see the "scaring the servants" part, but for the life of him...running around? Really? Maybe there was hope for Snape caring about him yet. Harry bit his lip. He just couldn't understand why Snape would care about him. Why should he? No one ever had, so why should Snape?

Gwendal distracted him from his thoughts.

"Come. Everyone is looking for you, so we should stop them from taking the castle apart stone by stone."

Harry nodded and followed him silently. He noticed that Gwendal was looking at him in curiousity.

"What?" he asked, self-conscious of his appearance.

"You certainly look different from Lord Eskil's Secunda form," remarked Gwendal, looking at his wings. "His form is more intimidating and fear-inspiring. While also intimidating, your form evokes feelings of joy and happiness. That is truly interesting."

Harry shrugged and wrapped his wings around himself in an attempt to shield himself from scrutinity, however friendly it was. Experience told him that frindly can turn to hostile in the blink of an eye.

* * *

The demon army Commander chastised himself. Now he went and scared the poor boy. Not knowing how to calm Ramiel, he opted to continue the way in silence. It was fortunate for him that the young man was behind him and not the other way around as Gwendal was not sure he would be able to resist the temptation to touch those beautiful soft shimmering wings. Or hair. He wondered briefly how they would feel to touch, but chased the thought away. It was not healthy to ponder such things in that sort of the situation.

To distract himself from the tantalizing vision of Ramiel's wings, Gwendal decided to attempt a second conversation.

"If you don't mind me asking, why did you run away?"

Ramiel didn't answer at first, but then his voice broke the silence, "I...I guess I wasn't thinking straight."

* * *

Harry didn't know why, but he desperately wanted to tell Lord Gwendal about his thoughts and doubts. He felt an almost physical need to bare his soul to the demon, stranger and outsider to the world of Harry Potter the wizard. He was afraid – oh, how afraid he was! - that not only would Gwendal not understand him, but would laugh at his fears, or worse...that he would confirm them. But to remain silent was an even worse option. Stuttering, Harry tried to explain himself, but felt he was doing a somewhat poor job of it.

"Uncle Soteres...he, well..we haven't always gotten along. It's a recent thing, but...I know he had no one to care about before, so that's why he agreed to look after me. But then I saw how he looked at Lady Anissina, and I felt how he liked her...so I guessed he didn't need me anymore. I know I had no reason to get upset at him, he is a free adult after all..."

"You think Lord Eskil doesn't care about you?" Gwendal seemed genuinely surprised.

"Well, it's not that he doesn't care about me, but that he likes Lady Anissina a lot. I know that. And I know that he won't do anything because he has to look after me; he made a promise to my godfather and he always keeps his word. I can't...I can't keep him bound to me. I, too, made a promise. I promised Draco, Uncle Soteres' godson, just before he died, that I will look after his godfather."

Gwendal looked startled and turned to him briefly. "Oh? Hmm...then..."

"Yeah, I've decided that if he doesn't leave me, I have to let him go myself." Harry felt hollow just saying those words. "I just never expected it would hurt me so, because..."

"...because you care about him," finished Gwendal, and Harry hung his head guiltily.

"I see." Gwendal stopped and turned to the boy.

* * *

Lord Gwendal never talked much, but he knew the value of words. He knew most of the time what to say and when to say it. Right now he knew that he had to make Ramiel listen to him and more importantly, hear him. Also, luckily for him, there was no one around them to witness his unusual sentimentality and no one to interfere.

"Ramiel," he began seriously, "I think you acted how you thought best, and I cannot blame you for it, but I also think you acted upon a very mistaken conception."

Surprised, Ramiel lifted his gaze from the floor to look into Gwendal's eyes.

"What? What do you mean?" he asked curiously.

"Let me explain. For example, I have two brothers and mother. Do you think I love only one of them and not the rest?"

"Well, no..." Ramiel mumbled softly.

"Consider also the fact that I care deeply about His Highness Yuuri, my friends and many other people. I do not care for all of them in the same way as for each one of them. That is to say, I care about all of them, but I care for each one of them differently. Do you understand me so far?"

"Ye-e-es," Ramiel frowned unsure of where the conversation was going.

"One day I will meet someone I will love and marry and have children with." _Or maybe I've already met him,_ he added in his thoughts. " I will care about him or her, and I will love our children. All of them. You are still with me so far?"

Now Ramiel looked positively uncomfortable, but he didn't try to escape. Yet.

"Ramiel," Gwendal's voice was gruff, but somehow soft at the same time, "love doesn't diminish, it multiplies. It grows with the number of people you love, and it's not only possible to love several people, but everyone...and I mean everyone, has the capability of such. Lord Eskil cares for you and loves you certainly. In what manner, I am not sure, but he does. He can love both you and Anissina, and you can love both him and someone else." _Me,_ he silently hoped.

* * *

Harry wasn't struck by lightning, but he felt like it for sure. Possible to care for both him and Anissina? He never thought of it that way and now he felt...stupid. It was so obvious really. Mrs. Weasley loved her children, didn't she? A lot of examples glared at him from the memories of the past and even present. And yet, and yet...It never occured to him before now. Why? Was it because he was a dunderhead as Snape often insisted, or because no one really cared about _him_, _just Harry,_ and not the Saviour-who-came-to-fulfill-the-Prophecy? Harry didn't know, but somehow...Gwendal's speech made him feel lighter and braver. He wasn't afraid of the future anymore.

Now though, how to tell his Uncle about his stupid stunt without breaking what was already a fragile relationship...

* * *

Severus Snape wasn't sure what he was going to do to Desi when he found him – hug him or more probably kill him. Possibly, he would do both at the same time. He entertained himself with this idea for a second and sighed. This boy... he will be the death of him. _Already was...is..._thestray thought flashed momentarily. He sighed again. The boy was impossible. How could they survive here together, when not even three days after they got here something like this happens?

As time passed, and there was still no sign of Desi, Severus decided he would just be happy to find the boy, and to hell with punishment and fantasies about strangling him. Finding him was more important, and it certainly shouldn't have been so difficult! He was a former Hogwarts Professor, for Merlin's sake! The Dungeon Bat who could find students sneaking out after curfew in a huge semi-sentient, semi-alive, constantly changing castle! How hard could it be to search this lesser, inanimate, unchanging piece of rock? Well, it turned out to be hard enough to find even a trace.

One thing consoled him through it all, though. Anissina teamed up with him in the end so another accident like the one with Wolfram wouldn't occur. She also grabbed some cloaks for them and the boy in the case they found him. The dungeons could get very cold in the evening.

"I'm certain he is here somewhere," Anissina told him, putting on a cloak. "Although the dungeons in Blood Pledge Castle are quiet extensive, there is no one currently here who knows them better than Gwendal or Günter. We should find him soon. Do not worry so."

They didn't have to go far, much to their astonishment. Heading straight for them were Gwendal, who they had just talked about, and the boy for whom they were all frantically looking. Said boy was also very different looking from the last time Severus saw him. He had to admit, his Secunda form suited Desi very much. Anissina next to him nearly salivated at the idea of studying the boy's form. Severus silently thanked all the higher beings that she didn't see his own Secunda form.

Gwendal and Desi stopped in front of them without a word. Silence reigned. Anissina touched Severus' hand and squeezed it gently, warning him of harsh words and actions. Severus exhaled.

"Lord Gwendal, I see you had more luck than we. I'll take it from here if you don't mind," his tone placid with a touch of frost.

"No, that's quiet all right," nodded Gwendal, "though you should let Gisela see him first. He had a bit of a run-in with a wall and injured his head."

Severus looked Desi over, concerned about his wound, and indeed there it was, matted blood in his hair.

"Very well, I'll do so." He took Desi's hand as if to reassure himself that the boy wouldn't disappear, and looked questioningly to Anissina, "Will you come with us?"

"No," Gwendal interrupted, "I apologize, but we have something to talk about."

Severus nodded and turned around to head to the upper part of the castle, avoiding looking at the boy.

* * *

"Why didn't you let me go?" demanded Anissina dangerously.

Gwendal sighed. Troublesome woman.

"I wanted to talk with you, and they had to talk as well."

"Talk," her voice got lower.

"Are you attracted to Lord Eskil? Do you like him?" he asked abruptly.

"What?" Anissina's fiery temper flared like a pile of wood under dragon's firebreath. "WHAT?"

Gwendal decided that Yuuri and Konrart probably heard that...as did those living in the city next to the castle. His ears rang from the echo in the corridor.

"Because if you do, you should know some very important things," Gwendal struggled to remain calm with great difficulty.

"What things?" Anissina's fury seemingly vanished, and she smiled at him politely, which was even more scary.

"Would you like to know why Ramiel ran away earlier?" Gwendal sighed. He anticipated being tortured any second now.

"Why?" The bane of his childhood suspiciously narrowed her eyes.

"He felt the mutual attraction between you and Lord Eskil, and he did not wish to be an obstacle between the two of you. You don't know their history, and it's too long to tell it now, but suffice it to say that both Ramiel and Lord Eskil are new to their guardian-ward relationship, and neither feels secure in being cared about and loved. You have to know this if you are going to pursue any kind of relationship with Lord Eskil."

"But what can I do?" Anissina looked confused and lost.

"Reassure them. Help them understand each other. Be there for them. Do not let Ramiel be excluded." Gwendal nodded, "That would be enough for a start."

"When did you become so wise in relationships?" wondered the red-haired demoness.

"..." Gwendal looked at her blankly. "I am the Commander of a ve-e-ery large army, I live in a castle with Günter, Wolfram, Yuuri, and YOU, and I grew up around mother and Konrart. I am a political advisor and have a spy net to maintain. Did you forget about all of that?"

"..." Anissina sheepishly looked up, then turned back to Gwendal with sudden anger, "What do you mean, "with YOU"?

"_Maou help me"_, thought Gwendal, feeling the urge to sigh again.

* * *

They walked in silence all the way to Gisela's infirmary door. Snape knocked and waited for the invitation, then pushed the glowing boy inside.

"Lady Gisela, if we could have your help?" Severus asked, then turned finally to his ward, "You should return to your Prima form."

Harry complied without hesitation, stumbling slightly after resuming his usual wingless self. Gisela gasped at seeing blood in Harry's hair and examined him thoroughly, parting the hair gently and cleaning the blood out. After disinfecting the wound she healed it to stop the bleeding and attached a bandage.

"No strenuous activities and no fighting," she told him sternly, reminding both Harry and Snape of Madame Pomfrey. "I will check on you tomorrow, but for now you are fine to return to your room."

Harry nodded gratefully. At least she wasn't demanding he stay in bed for the next week or two as Madame Pomfrey probably would. He wouldn't mind staying in the infirmary right now, on the other hand. He dreaded the impending talk with his guardian, who was obviously struggling with his rising anger.

They exited the infirmary and went to their own quarters, in silence again. Harry sneaked glances at Snape's stony face, but every time he wanted to speak, the words stuck in his throat. Finally, they reached their rooms, and as they entered, Snape let go of Harry's hand and very slowly and carefully closed the doors. Then he turned around.

"Would you like to explain to me, what in the nine circles of hell were you thinking running away like THAT?" his silky voice cut into Harry like a knife. He could feel the fury in the older Shifter, threatening to spill over and bury him under shattering words and emotions. Snape knew this, obviously, because he purposely distanced himself and stood near the window with crossed arms, tapping his foot on the polished stones.

Struggling to say something, Harry opened his mouth several times, but was unable to emit a single sound. He finally let his emotions go and crumbled to the floor sobbing.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Imsorrysorrysorrysorry..." he cried in desperation.

In the blink of an eye Snape crossed the room, forgetting about his own anger and wrapped him in a hug.

"Shhh," he soothed Harry. "I'm sorry as well. I should have paid more attention to you and not taken my frustration out on you, Desi."

"I shouldn't have run away!" Harry clutched at Snape's robes.

* * *

"That you shouldn't have," agreed Severus, trying to forget about cursing himself for now. Desi would take it as anger at himself again. "We both made a mistake, so what do you say we forget it and never repeat it?"

"Really?" The sobbing lessened somewhat, but the boy still held his robe as if it was glued to his hands.

"Yes, really, after you tell me what inspired you to this incredible feat of stupidity," Snape's sharp tongue burst through again, but Desi didn't react to it, interestingly enough.

"I know," he sobbed again, "it was really stupid. Gwendal explained it to me when he found me."

"Oh?" Severus raised an eyebrow.

"I ran away because I didn't want to be a burden to you." The boy hid his face in Snape's robes meanwhile, leaving the man speechless.

"..." The Potions Master fought the urge to turn around and beat his head against the wall. "I thought we established that you are not a burden to me or anyone else here. You are my ward and I agreed to look after, protect and teach you willingly."

"But Siri made you promise that," the boy whimpered.

"Look, child," Snape sighed, "Black may have asked me to make a promise, but no one, him included, could force me to make this promise unwillingly. Not Voldemort, not Dumbledore, not Merlin himself would be able to make me do it."

"But you agreed before meeting Anissina," whispered Desi. "I know you like her. I thought you wouldn't want me anymore."

"I see." Snape fell silent for several moments. "Well, let me reassure you; even if I suddenly married, had a dozen children, hundreds of pets and an army of friends, I'm not going to forget about you and miraculously decide that I do not want want you anymore. Is that clear?"

"Crystal." giggled the youth.

"Besides, I may like Lady Anissina, but I highly doubt she likes me," frowned Snape.

Desi looked at him with twitching lips, "She definitely likes you."

* * *

Harry was trying very hard not to laugh at the conjured image of Snape leading a cheering army of look-alikes, all carrying cats, owls and bats, with a huge mansion in the distance where a woman was waving good-bye with a crowd of mini-Snapes around her.

Still giggling, he asked, "Did you really knock Gwendal's brother from his feet?" He drank in his guardian's emotions happily. Awkwardness, relief, indignity, annoyance...

"Yes," Snape answered curtly, then looked down. Being in constant contact with Snape's emotions, Harry could feel the sudden sadness and anguish.

"Did something happen?" he asked hesitantly.

"He reminds me of Draco," Snape answered after a long silence. "They could be twins in both looks and attitude."

Harry didn't say anything after that, just hugged Snape tighter.

* * *

Meanwhile, Wolfram was giving his report to Gwendal, pacing in agitation along the table.

"Those despicable bastards! The nerve of them! Can you imagine, Gwendal? Masquerading as us, as demons! Dirtying our name! Plotting treason!"

"Calm down, Wolfram," said Gwendal, frowning as usual. "There is no use in pointless anger now. Just tell me what you found in a presentable manner."

Wolfram inhaled deeply and clenched his fists. Then slowly exhaled.

"Very well. As you know, the reports of attack on the traders – human traders – came. When I and Konrart arrived there, we tried to ask the villages along the border about the attacks, but no one would tell us anything. We noticed some unpleasant and suspicious looks directed our way, of course, however, as a search proved useless, we crossed the border. In the human villages we were met with outright glares, and again everyone was silent. It was so irritating. We left the villages and went along the main trade route where we joined the first trade caravan we met. In disguise of course." Wolfram began pacing again.

"I assume you were attacked." Gwendal leaned back on the chair and looked out the window.

"Yes, we were," Wolfram snarled. "Those vermin attacked us at night with covered faces. Konrart and I defeated them, and then we discovered that...that...those bastards were not only human, but there were demons as well. They worked together!"

Gwendal sighed.

"Brother, you sometimes forget that our own race can produce crminals as well as humans."

"I know that!" Wolfram shouted indignantly. "Anyway, after interrogating the vermin, we assumed that the band we caught was all there was, except two or three other missing bandits. Konrart decided to return to the castle, especially after receiving that letter of yours. I, on the other hand, followed the lead given by the captured bastards to locate the few missing ones, and it nearly got me ambushed. I got lucky at the last minute and noticed them hiding. Well, I may not be Yozak, but I disguised myself and followed them when they changed guards. I followed them straight to their hideout, and much to my luck, there were several main plotters there discussing stepping up attacks."

"What?" Gwendal drummed his fingers on the table.

"Yes, you heard right. Apparently, if I understood correctly, several rich demons and humans don't like the peace between Shin Makoku and humans. Their profits have began to lower, and they decided to do something about it," Wolfram sneered.

"Ah." Gwendal studied the map on the wall. "So they decided to attack the trade routes in hopes it would disrupt peace and everything would be returned to how it was."

"Well, I never said they were bright," Wolfram snorted.

"Fools," agreed Gwendal. "I assume you found the main culprits."

"Not all of them, for now." Wolfram struck a pose, "I'm going to put the fear of justice into their hearts by the end of it all. None will escape and harm the wimp."

* * *

In a distant part of the castle, Yuuri sneezed and thought he heard the echoing "wimp" in Wolfram's voice. Automatically, he shouted, "Don't call me a wimp!" scaring a few birds roosting on the rails.

* * *

"So what's the matter with these strange humans in the castle?" asked Wolfram after shortly contemplating the silence where he could almost hear Wimp's reply.

"First of all, they are not humans. They are Shifters, from another world."

"Yuuri's world?"

"No, a whole different world. It's a long story."

"I have time."

"I don't, but you can ask Konrart. He was present when they spoke about themselves." Gwendal eyed a pile of papers warily.

"All right, I'll ask him," Wolfram sighed, but stopped pestering his brother and left in the search of the other. A last glance at Gwendal showed him looking desolately at the table.

* * *

Gwendal wouldn't have minded telling Wolfram about the Shifters that much, but he was trying to keep his mind away from Ramiel and what happened to him. If he told Wolfram the Shifters' tale, he would have to fight hard against the urge to go and ask for Shinou's help in finding the world where Ramiel came from, and then beating the living day lights out of everyone who ever harmed this gentle and fragile young man. Konrart wasn't so emotionally involved with them, so he could do a better job informing Wolfram of their guests.

* * *

Wolfram found Konrart sitting near the fountain in the park. His brother had his eyes closed with a gentle smile playing on his lips. He looked like he was day-dreaming.

"I want to ask you about Shifters," Wolfram said, sitting near him. "Gwendal refused to tell me about them and said to ask you."

Konrart smiled wider, "Did he now?"

"Yes, yes..." grumbled Wolfram impatiently. "Tell me already."

His smile slightly dimming, but still kind and understanding, Konrart conveyed to his younger brother the Shifters' story. Sometimes he had to stop while his brother ranted about humans or shouted in disbelief. When he finished, Wolfram asked immediately, "Are they dangerous?"

"Why yes, Wolfram. I believe they are. After all, they were and are warriors of their kind, and have many interesting abillities."

"You know that's not what I meant. Are they dangerous to Yuuri-wimp? To Shin-Makoku?" Wolfram growled.

"Ahhh, you should have said it more clearly then. No, I don't think they are enemies. They could be if we tried to harm them, but so far I see a lot of Yuuri's traits in Ramiel, and a lot of Gwendal's traits in lord Eskil's character."

"Now that I think about it, I can see your traits in Lord Eskil, too. His devotion to Ramiel's mother," remarked Wolfram.

"There is that, too," agreed Konrart, "and that's why I cannot see them presenting a danger to us."

"I'll go find Yuuri." Wolfram stood up. "Have to see how the wimp is."

"He is in the inner attic." Konrart closed his eyes again as Wolfram left.

* * *

A/N: * - In response to various remarks about Gwendal's last name. Ok, Ok, I admit that maybe I was wrong to assume that as many things in anime were pro-German, Gwendal's name would be von Walde, not von Voltaire. But I did see this name (von Walde) on one of the sites about KKM, and I did think that "walde" means "forest". "Forest" is "der Wald", actually. I think you can see the similarity. So, for the sake of consistency, I'm going to use "von Walde". I just love how it sounds "Gwendal von Walde". "Gwendal von Voltaire" just isn't the same.

Konrart's name can be spelled with both "c" and "k", but I decided to choose "k". In anime, he told that his name is Konrart (Conrart), but as poor Yuuri wouldn't be able to pronounce it, he agreed to be called Conrad (or more like Conraddo - well, that's what I hear when Yuuri calls him). Poor Konrart...


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: (glancing around the corner) Please, don't kill me! I'm really sorry about delays, but I have to support my family in real life, which is no easy feat, I tell you. And I seem to scare away all potential betas with my long silence, so this chapter is only partially edited by Mabidiso, and partially by Spell Corrector in Word Office... Yeah, well... As long as you understand what I'm saying...

Disclaimer: Awoo! Awoo! Hey, leave me alone, crazy humans! I'm singing here my sorrows to the moon! Yes, the mourning song of me not being the author of Harry Potter or Kyou Kara Maou. It is very sad, indeed, that they are not mine. So, there... Awoo! Awoo! Awoo-oo-ooo-o...cough...cough...damn it! Now I lost the voice... (slink away, moping)

Warnings: Alright, some dark memories here... There was a reason I rated my story like that, you know?

Chapter 13

"Wimp! What are you doing there?" Wolfram called cautiously, watching as Yuuri was crawling around the bushes.

"Shh!" His Royal Majesty glared at him, "Gunter may be around."

"Are you hiding from Gunter again?" Wolfram shuddered, remembering his own lessons.

"Yes," Yuuri sighed, then slowly stood up. "You are back. How was the trip? Caught the bandits?"

"Yes," Wolfram tried to sound as usual, or arrogant in other words, "of course, I caught them! You doubted me, wimp?"

"Don't call me a wimp!" shouted Yuuri, and then glanced around in case Gunter heard him. "Then why didn't you come with Konrart yesterday?"

Wolfram frowned and turned away.

"I can do what I have to without my brother's presence. You shouldn't trouble yourself with needless worrying."

"I missed you," Yuuri pouted, making Wolfram blush slightly.

"You miss everyone, idiot!" The blonde felt guilty that while Yuuri was worried about him, Wolfram himself was thinking about Murata. "Besides, the moment I'm away, you already got into trouble! What is that about those strangers? Are you crazy to trust them that easily? Have you forgotten about all those assassination attempts?"

Yuuri got a determined look after hearing Wolfram's words.

"They needed help, and I'm not going to stand and watch someone suffer. You haven't heard their story! They need help!"

"And what if they lied? What then? They get your trust, get close to you and then they will try to kill you!"

"I believe them," Yuuri was stubborn. "Besides, you can't say that their story is a lie. You saw their transformation yourself. They aren't humans or demons. They are truly Shifters."

"Don't come to me in the future, when your blind trust will get you into trouble AGAIN!" Wolfram harrumphed angrily.

"I'm planning to visit Earth in a few days," Yuuri said suddenly. "Will you come with me?"

"What? Why? What happened?" Wolfram suddenly got anxious.

"It's my father's birthday soon and I have to attend. I hoped Konrart would come, but he told me he is going to be busy here."

"Oh. Of course, I will come. Don't you dare leave without me!" Somehow Wolfram felt happy thinking of visiting Earth with Yuuri. A chance to see Murata sooner...

"Heika! You didn't tell me about your father's upcoming birthday..." Gunter's voice brought them back to harsh reality. Yuuri went white as a sheet, eyes widening. Wolfram just flinched slightly and patted Yuuri on the back compassionately.

"Sorry, got too go," with these words he hightailed it out of the inner attic.

"Your Majesty, as a ruler of Shin Makoku you should know about important demon traditions concerning celebration of birthdays," Gunter sounded excited, "Let us head to the Archives where I will show you the history of celebrating Royal Birthdays and gifts, suitable for Royal Celebrations."

His Royal Majesty whimpered pitifully.

-break line-

The next day came and brought with it a fierce storm and chilling wind. At least, the day began with such weather. Secluded to their rooms, Severus and Harry made several attempts at Occlumency.

As it turned out, Harry's success at relaxing wasn't a fluke after all. He, indeed, mastered the art of relaxation to such degree, that even Severus Snape, Master Occlumens extraordinaire, was impressed. But, well ...that was it. However Harry tried, he couldn't concentrate for the life of him. Maybe the weather was to blame. It's not easy to maintain concentration when lightning is flashing, wind is roaring, and thunder is trying to deafen the inhabitants of Blood Pledge Castle. The soundproofing wasn't invented in this world, it seemed. If it was, then it wasn't very popular, or widespread. Flinching once more after especially threatening thundercrack, Harry opened his eyes and looked at his guardian moodily.

"It's useless, I tell you."

"One would think that a person capable of playing Quidditch during the rain with a horde of Dementors around would find it easy to maintain concentration while not in any danger or under stress... Especially that the said person is a Varnaay, the Sky Lord who can control rain, lightning and wind... Who, as far as I know, should feel comforted by them," Severus Snape was completely stumped by his ward's inability to concentrate, to say the least. The feats that the boy was capable of in the past meant the talent in ability to concentrate, but now...

To say the truth, all wizards had to learn concentration. One of the most popular and false myths in the Wizarding World was that the more power a wizard had, the more powerful he or she was. It was utter bullshit, actually. Sometimes wizards who possessed astonishing reserves of magical power were mediocre at best, and sometimes wizards who had low levels of power were feared or respected as powerful opponents. Severus himself was not that powerful compared to Dumbledore, Riddle or Potter. Even Potter and Black had larger magical reserves, however... However, he was a genius in the matter of concentration. As Desi was an apparent genius in matters of relaxation, so Severus could maintain concentration wherever and whenever he wished, and for however long he wished it. Now that made him so feared among enemies and allies alike. He still would lose against Dumbledore, but it would not be an easy win for old wizard. Snape sometimes wondered, if the spell that could disrupt person's ability to concentrate could be invented, and if it ever were, would it be added to Unforgivables? Without concentrating, no wizard could ever cast a spell. For that matter, the Confundus Charm came close, though not quiet. It just corrupted recent memories and perception, but not concentration. As for the Patronus Charm, it wasn't difficult for finding a right memory or required power. It was difficult for need of maintaining the strong emotion and focusing on it. Focus wasn't just the other word for the wand. In the Old times, wizards had no need of wands, and they were casting the same and even more powerful spells. Then some genius or idiot, really, invented a wand. It helped wizards to concentrate so much that they began using wands all the time, and as a consequence, generations later people stopped exercising the mind arts, and their power diminished. Everyone blamed muggleborns, and their "polluting blood", but there were some who knew the truth. It was those who were studying mind arts.

Snape started learning Occlumency at a young age. He was interested in it, and his mother was a Master as well. It was pity that she never used it on her husband, though... Well, at least she did teach her son. Severus knew most of the mind arts when he was still a First Year. It was an immense help against the Marauders later...

But returning to the present moment, Severus Snape was stumped. He couldn't comprehend how a person capable of producing a Patronus powerful enough to ward off more than a hundred of Dementors in the said Dementors' presence be defeated by meager thunder crack. It was ridiculous. That's even not mentioning the resistance to Imperius, or assuming the Secunda form. Which he did perfectly, to be honest. Better, than Snape himself. When asked, the boy Shifted in the matter of second, without hesitation or visible effort. One may say, he enjoyed Shifting forth and back to his Secunda form. The only difficulty he encountered lied in drawing wings out to Prima form. It was truly strange. The full Shift required more focus than just bringing out the wings, but Desi was unable to do the second while executing the first in a moment's notice.

Snape sighed and decided to continue the training later. Maybe Desi needed another approach; he was always unorthodox, after all.

"Very well, we'll try again later. What do you wish to do now?" He thought of visiting Anissina, but the memory of their last meeting was still fresh. It was probably not the best idea he had. The again, there was library... with Gunter who was overjoyed at the mere thought of being in dark-haired Shifter's presence.

"We could visit the baths," shyly offered Harry, "or visit Lord Gwendal...or Lady Anissina..."

His Uncle seemed to ponder for a minute then nodded.

"It sounds good," he agreed, "Maybe they are not too busy and we could talk."

For a moment Harry was surprised that his guardian agreed so easily, then mischievously smiled.

"Oh, I'm sure Lady Anissina would find a few hours to talk with you...and more..."

His Uncle glared furiously in response, but Harry could feel no anger, and his guardian's cheeks reddened. Awed, Harry stared. His Uncle just blushed. No, Severus Snape, the Terror of the Dungeons, even if he had another name now, just blushed like a tomato. It was a surreal, if not a terrifying sight.

-break line-

In a distant location...

"I thought I warned you not to underestimate Royal Knights," quiet voice seethed with barely controlled anger.

"I'm sorry, Lord Wit..."

"I told you not to use real names!" interrupted him irate demon, "I am Strike, you simple-minded fool!"

"Of course, Lord Strike," the trembling human bowed, "I apologize. We never thought they would use such... such strange means."

Slightly calmed, demon leaned back in the chair and replied with contempt:

"For your information, the Knights use this method of spying very often and are not ashamed at all of it. The only ones who do not use it are those who could not fool anyone with the disguise."

"But dressing as women!" The human looked shocked, "That is so...so... wrong!"

Now amused, demon regarded the human curiously. What would that idiot think if he knew that the one who was controlling all this operation liked to dress as a woman in his youth and stalk the streets in the night, looking for thieves and thugs to fight? Probably he would be disgusted, demon smiled.

The human was a bit unnerved by the way the demon was smiling, but he had no choice in dealing with him. He was not one of the richest merchants, but he was chosen to be human representative in dealings with demon side of their alliance, because no other agreed to cope with the plentiful amount of scorn and arrogance of their allies. The alliance itself was shaky at best, and it would never come to existence if not for circumstances. Demons wanted power and change in ruling party, and it made no difference for humans really, who was in charge...unless it was some war-mongering psychopath. Generally, however, demons were ignoring humans and looked at them with as much love as at the dirt on their shoes or clothes. It was always human side that started conflicts.

Now, however, the enthusiastic Maou was actively trying to make peace with humans and it changed a lot of things. One of them was that his village was starving now. That stupid boy king was making his people starve, and he was not the only one. So, the alliance was born.

"It could turn out to our benefit..." the demon trailed off suddenly.

"How?" The human looked up at him surprised.

"Easy," demon smiled again, and his smile sent shivers along the human's spine, "Now, that the Knights know of some of our plans – and do not assume that they do not – we could lure them away from the castle. They will not take the King with them for fear of putting him in danger. And while they are away, the Maou will be relatively defenseless. We'll take care of him, after which there will be no trouble dealing with the rest. If - and it's very big "if" - they do take him with them, we'll have a surprise for them and this Maou"

The thought of killing a boy no older than his own son made the human's stomach turn, but there was nothing he could do if he didn't want his own son and a lot more people to starve.

For that matter, it will not be his hand anyway that will take that demon boy's life.

"How do we draw them out?" He asked.

"Oh," the demon closed his eyes in satisfaction, "It is going to be a piece of art ...that you have no business of having a knowledge of. Just do what I tell, and everything will be perfect."

-break line-

Meanwhile, in the Blood Pledge Castle...

The journey to Anissina's laboratory wasn't very long, but turned out to be an interesting experience.

It all started when Snape decided not to rely on his memory of the way to the Anissina's room, but to ask the guard so conveniently stationed just outside their rooms. At first, the guard looked at them blankly, then laughed lightly. Noticing Shifters' face expressions, however, smile left the guard's face quickly.

"You are serious?" Gaped the guard. Snape and Harry nodded.

A torrent of emotions rushed through the guard, confusing Harry. The guard's face told the older Shifter the rest. Pity, horror, confusion, fear... The guard lead the Shifters to the dungeons looking back every few seconds. After a while that was becoming to irritate Snape.

"What?" He snapped when the guard turned to look at them again, as if checking them to be real or a hallucination. The guard jumped.

"Sorry, it's just... in all my years serving here you are the first who are going there willingly..." the guard trailed off. His answer confused both Shifters. Snape couldn't understand why anyone would try to avoid this beautiful and intelligent woman, while Harry was thinking that even if Lady Anissina's laugh could creep out even Voldemort, were he alive, she was rather nice in overall.

_Toras was dazed. Here he was leading those poor innocent souls into the Pits of Doom, where the Bane of all unusual and interesting things lived. He was aware of the curious nature of the Maou's guests, being one of the guards who saw Lord Eskil in his Other form. Now, the unsuspecting Lord Eskil was heading straight to the one person he should have avoided at all costs... and Toras could do nothing but watch the unfurling cruelty of fate. Oh, Maou save them all!_

"Lord Eskil, what a surprise!" Anissina looked positively demonic, no pun intended, in white doctor's coat, and some strange contraption in her hand. Not that it in itself looked scary, no. The scary part was Lord Gwendal, tied to the metal chair next to her with a contraption of similar design on his head.

Surprisingly enough, Harry didn't pick up any fury or fear from Lord Gwendal. He was feeling tired and resigned, and very very annoyed. With the appearance of Shifters though, there was also slight embarrassment added.

"May I inquire what is happening here?" Snape sounded unsure of the question, as if not really wanting to know.

"Oh! I'm doing an experiment, and Gwendal here so kindly agreed to help out," Anissina brilliantly smiled.

Snape looked at Lord Gwendal. The demon in question glared at the red-haired demoness with apparent disagreement with her words on his face. Feeling awkward, Snape asked:

"What kind of experiment you are doing?"

Anissina's face lit up:

"The electricity! I've found out that in Maou's home world humans use the electricity for all kind of things, so I've decided to do something about it. I created this wonderful Demonic Spiral of Lightning Doom to store the electricity. Now, I, being the smartest scientist, know how to create electricity in great amounts, but with the storm outside I want to see something. Gwendal-kun here volunteered to assist," Anissina smiled wider, "I want to see how demon magic reacts with the electricity. Hmm, would you like to help me out, too?"

"I would not mind to help out, but you told you are going to test how electricity works with demon magic. I would like to remind you that I am not a demon, I am a Shifter, just as Desi here."

Anissina's face blanked for a second. Gwendal edged away from her, looking mournfully at Lord Eskil who just signed up his own "torture warrant" and was none the wiser.

"Anissina!" Lord Gwendal felt the need to interfere, "Ramiel is still recovering, and I insist you not involve him in your dangerous schemes."

"They are not dangerous!" Protested the demoness.

"Really?" Gwendal stared at her unblinkingly.

Anissina fidgeted. Gwendal continued to stare. Finally, Anissina looked away.

"Well, maybe a bit..." she grumbled.

"Anissina," Gwendal growled.

"Fine! All right!" She shouted waving her arms, "You win! I will not test new models on them!"

Both Harry and Snape paled. It has just occurred to them, that the guard's reaction may not have been without serious reasons.

"Untie me," Gwendal demanded firmly. Anissina looked at him with sour expression on her face, but didn't argue and quickly released him from the bonds.

Gwendal stood up and stretched awkwardly, then looked at the Shifters. There were some thoughts lurking about in his head since the moment he found out about Ramiel's empathy, but it was to soon to voice them, he decided. Ramiel was still recovering, and Lord Eskil would not be pleased anyway. As if reading his thoughts, Lord Eskil glanced at him, then looked back at Anissina.

"We didn't finish our discussion about possible uses of those Flying Skeletons from yesterday," he suggested weakly.

Anissina wavered momentarily, then smiled:

"I don't mind. And Ramiel could offer some fresh opinion, you told yourself he has some unconventional ideas about things."

"Yes, I think Desi could come up with some good ideas," Lord Eskil's face was as expressive as a stonewall, but Ramiel looked definitely surprised at these words. Gwendal studied his face. Somehow, when surprised, Ramiel reminded him of Yuuri-heika. The eyes were the same widened black, filled with wonder and innocence. The cheekbones were a bit thinner, and the nose was just a bit straighter. Of course, the white-grey hair gave drastically different impression, but Gwendal wondered: if Ramiel died his hair black, Yuuri-heika and him would look almost the same, just like Wolfram and Shinou. However, was it good or bad? He decided to think of it in his rooms.

"I'll be in my rooms," he nodded curtly to them and quietly retreated, giving Ramiel encouraging smile.

-break line-

The discussion started rather awkwardly. Harry felt out of the loop, as he wasn't present at previous talk – with running away and all. He had to ask several stupid – in his opinion – questions about "Flying Bones tribe" and their abilities, and mainly was silent in the beginning.

Anissina, remembering her friend's warning, tried to involve the boy into conversation, but had to curb her usual abrupt manner.

Snape, on the other hand, was in conundrum. He felt relieved that the misunderstanding between him and Desi was resolved, but was afraid to push him. He knew very well that children in Desi's position needed constant reassurance and reminding of their worthiness. If he repeated his mistake of ignoring Desi, which was easy to do due to Desi's tendency to stay silent, the consequences wouldn't be good. Not good at all.

Harry didn't know what to do, to become angry or laugh. In a swirl of emotions surrounding him, he could easily read how cautious of him were both his guardian and ruby-haired demoness. It was rather desperate, their desire to involve him in to the conversation. Did they think though, if he was interested in it? He wasn't even sure, what these "skeletons" were... but they were really creepy. They reminded him of Dementors.

"How do you communicate?" He decided to ask one question that tormented him.

"Maryoku, of course," Lady Anissina frowned, "we just tell them what we want them to do and they do it. I assume they can communicate with each other, but we don't understand them that much. Gestures, or strong emotion are the usual ways to understand them in general."

"What if they don't want to do something?" Snape asked.

"That rarely happens. Occasionally, when they are scared, they wouldn't listen, but I remember only one time when they went wild. It was recently actually, and we resolved the problem, so it won't happen again."

"So, they are like...skeleton-like House-Elves..." Harry smiled wonderingly. He remembered Dobby and Winky vividly, they fits of misbehavior, anger, and fright, and how it was sometimes difficult to make them listen to him, to what he needed them really do. Not because they didn't want to, but because their perception of help was distorted or different. Was this the case with these creatures?

"Have you tried to teach them some signals or sign language?" Snape was interested to know their intelligence level.

"No," Lady Anissina opened her mouth slightly, "It had never occurred to us."

"Ah," smugly looking Snape stood up from the chair and began pacing the room, "How difficult are the tasks they are usually given?"

"It's a bit of scouting, or delivery mostly. Patrolling the area for the danger and intruders, or safety insurance when working at heights. Nothing complex."

"Nothing complex?" Echoed Snape, "I must wonder what you would consider complex then...but I am right, anyway. They are quiet intelligent and should be able to learn how to communicate."

"But they cannot talk!" Anissina was bewildered, "Though...we could teach them how to write."

"What about Morse code?" Piped in Harry.

Snape and Anissina looked at him blankly.

"You know... the code sailors used to send messages on the past, consisting short and long pauses between sounds. It's not difficult and doesn't require speech. Anyone can learn it."

Anissina continued to look blankly, but Snape nodded in understanding:

"Ah yes, the Muggle invention. Now I remember it. But... do you know it?"

"Ehh... no," Harry blushed.

"Well, me neither," Snape sighed, "So, how would we teach it to the Tribe if we don't know it ourselves."

"As I understand, what you call "Muggles" are non-magic folk?" Anissina smiled thoughtfully.

"Yes."

"Then we have no problem," Anissina's smile was blinding. "Next time Yuuri-heika goes to his parents' world, he just has to find a book in the library or buy it, and bring it here! I think your world and his are close enough for the Morse code to exist in both."

After that the conversation drifted off into the topics Harry didn't have a slightest clue about. Not that Snape and Lady Anissina specially chose something obscure to talk about around Harry, but as with all truly great scientists and researchers, they were forgetful about audience when something interesting caught their attention, Harry mused. He was not resentful about being excluded from the conversation, especially after awkward attempts to include him before. If anything, he became amused observing the two. Now that he was assured of Snape's care about him, he could see him talk with the demoness much more calmly than before. He never had the chance to see the Potions Master to be truly himself – not that many did at all – and he never thought he would.

During times at Hogwarts Snape was always silently scowling and frowning or acidly berating and insulting others. There was no middle ground and now that he thought about it, he never saw Snape talking with someone else normally. Freely, that is. To see him now... he smiled thinking that no one would recognize the new Snape.

Not to say that his guardian was behaving completely out of norm – he was still sharp with words, often scowling and frowning – but the intense look on his face, the sparkling in his eyes when he and Anissina were discussing things, the pleased sigh when his guesses would be proven right – Harry doubted anyone at all from their own world could claim to be a witness to such. Snape, Harry understood with a sudden start, never put his guard down that much in his previous life. He never trusted anyone that much as he trusted him and Anissina. Granted, he was a bit miffed that the demoness that they met not three days ago has gained his guardian's trust that fast and easily. Harry himself had known Snape for nearly six years. Though, on the other hand, Snape hated him during that time. He wondered if he ever would have witnessed Snape unguarded like that if they had stayed in their own world. He seriously doubted that.

Harry was content to observe his Uncle and the cherry-haired demoness for quite some time, but eventually he grew bored. He thought briefly about sneaking out and exploring the vicinity of the room, but shuddered remembering the last escapade in the dungeons. Moving to the back of the room to a large and comfortably looking armchair, he sighed longing for the time when he would be able to be independent to move around as he liked. He could visit Lord Gwendal by himself then or explore the city.

His thoughts turned to Lord Gwendal then. He felt confused about his reaction to the demon's presence. When Lord Gwendal found him in the dungeons, Harry couldn't help himself but to inexplicably trust him. Was it because he was relieved to be found or something else? He never trusted adults before. So why now? Was it similar to how Snape was putting his guard down with Lady Anissina? If so, what did it mean? When he saw Lord Gwendal tied up in the chair, his heart skipped a beat or two out of worry, until he understood that the demon was not harmed. Though, to be frank, he would be worried in this situation even if it hadn't been Lord Gwendal there... _It's madness,_ Harry realized, _I will never understand this unless I spend more time with the demon. But should I? Or it would be better to avoid him altogether? _

Thinking it over and over, Harry felt asleep eventually. Had he known what his dream would be like, he would have preferred to sneak out again.

-break line-

Severus and Anissina were definitely on the same mental wavelength. Of course, Severus never laughed in such an evil manner when describing experiments, but he could feel they had the same urge to research and seek knowledge and the same joy when they had success. It was indescribable, this ability to understand what the other person thought without any use of Legilimency, just by talking with them. He wondered if that was how the Weasley twins felt all the time. If so, then no wonder they were so giddy and hyperactive all the time. The again, the twins never knew anything else, and Snape himself could only compare the complete social isolation he lived in and the current joy of social freedom. It was like moving from the Sahara desert to the tropical island, figuratively speaking.

After discussing the possible use of Morse code in communicating with the Flying Bone Tribe, he and Anissina somehow got themselves talking about rare demonic herbs and their properties. Desi got completely lost in the conversation, but Severus somehow felt his ward didn't mind just watching from the sidelines. If anything, he preferred it. Watching him out of the corners of his eyes, Severus gradually relaxed and stopped paying constant attention to the boy. He felt he didn't have to worry about Desi leaving the room, as the last time the boy did it and the following consequences should have still been fresh in his ward's mind. After watching the boy settling in the fluffy and soft armchair, Severus felt safe to concentrate completely on his talk with the beautiful demoness.

Anissina herself was not an expert in dealing with teenagers such like Ramiel – Wolfram, Yuuri-heika and Murata-daikenja were drastically different from other young people, too, but in different manner – so she relied on Lord Eskil's experience. Following the other man's lead was strange for her, but had she any other choice? If she hurt Ramiel with her abrupt manner and "truly horrifying demonic ways", as she heard others describe her behavior sometimes, surely she would lose attention of Lord Eskil. However, seeing as Lord Eskil relaxed and stopped trying to involve the young man into the conversation, she felt content to let him be as well.

Therefore, it was an utter and unpleasant surprise for them both when their discussion was interrupted by a scream full of such anguish, horror and pain, that they both had felt their heart stop for a moment. Without a pause, they both ran towards the boy fearing what could cause such a scream. The sight of the screaming and twisting boy, trying to scratch his face off was not something she expected, but as stunned as she was, her sharp mind noticed how a grim look of understanding flashed on Lord Eskil's face, or how white his hands clenched into fists were. She also noticed that he didn't hesitated approaching the boy and gently trying to pry Ramiel's hands off his face. It spoke volumes to her. It was not the unusual occurrence at all for the boy, to have such nightmares. She suddenly wished she could find out who did this to him, and get them to her laboratory. Some of her experiments could be excruciating, if she wished. She knew she would enjoy making them such on the person that caused Ramiel's pain. As it was, however, she felt useless and could only watch. The scream was soul tearing and with the sudden morbid amusement, she thought that while she wasn't the reason for suffering, the gossip will undoubtedly contribute it to her, as it happened in her laboratory. Would the servants finally find the courage to refuse bringing the meals here, after all?

Severus understood what kind of dream Desi was having at once, seeing boy's desperate attempts to mutilate his face. He was already discovered as a spy when it happened. He never knew the exact details, except that in one week's time the Dark Lord captured and killed about 16 teenagers, all with black hair and green eyes, all male and all about Desi's age. He killed them in pretty horrifying ways and left the naked bodies at Hogwarts' gates, with the message telling "The Fate of the One gifted to Many" carved into each of their backs. The Wizarding World was shaken badly with these events. It was no secret whom the dead boys resembled and what Voldemort hinted at, especially that there was a lightning bolt carved on the forehead of each of the bodies. He could only guess what they had endured before death and how Desi was involved. That he was present and knew that the only crime the unfortunate boys had committed was being born with these features, Severus didn't doubt for a second. Now, how to make him let go of the guilt? Knowing Desi, he felt responsible for it, as he felt responsible for everything else...

"Desi," he called, "Desi. Wake up, Desi."

He soothingly ran his fingers through Desi's limp hair and called again, "Wake up, Desi. It's just a nightmare. You are safe."

Slowly, the boy's screams became quiet and he went still. Severus continued to pet his hair, sighing sadly.

"Professor?" Desi's voice sounded rough and unsure.

"It's Uncle, Desi. Have you forgotten? I'm not a Professor anymore," Severus rebuked him keeping the voice light.

The boy looked shaken, "Sorry, Uncle Soteres. I'm awake now," he then finally noticed the situation he was in, "Have I disturbed you? I'm sorry, I..."

"Hush, it's not your fault," Severus spoke forcefully. "Do not even dare to presume you are to blame."

"Err, ok..." Harry trailed off still affected by the nightmare. He then noticed blood on his fingers and felt stingy sensation on his face. Puzzled, he looked at his Uncle.

"You tried to scratch your face off," his guardian sighed heavily, "I presume it's connected to your nightmare."

"Yeah, though... not so much the nightmare as the memory..." Harry hid his face into his guardian's shoulder. "He was so irritated that week, you know. He tried to make me... make me call him "My Lord". And I refused. He was very inventive with the curses, but I never called him that. Oh, I screamed and cried, but I never called him...that. So there was this...smartass Death Eater. He told that he heard that sometimes it's more difficult to watch someone get tortured than be tortured yourself. Voldemort really liked the idea, so he found all these guys resembling me. He made me watch. He made them watch. He made sure they knew why they were tortured and that if I only called him ...that... they wouldn't have to die. He tortured the first sixteen during the first week making us watch all the while, never knowing who would be next. Well, except me. He didn't touch me then. After that, he told that if I don't call him ...that name... he would torture the next sixteen." Harry fell silent.

Severus frowned. He knew about those first sixteen teens, but it was the first time he heard there were more. Why didn't Voldemort showed off the rest of the bodies? Or was it because Desi...? He looked at the boy in sudden realization.

"Yes," Harry nodded. "I called him that. I would have called him that if I knew what he would do. It wasn't worth their lives. It didn't break me. It made me stronger if anything. Made my anger and hate stronger. But for those sixteen it was too late. And it was my fault. Well, anyway... He killed the rest of them, too, except he didn't play with them. Just quick Avada Kedavra and they were dead. I don't know what he did to the bodies. Gave them to Nagini, maybe. She was always hungry, always asking for more...I hated myself after that. For being so stupid and stubborn. For being so damn prideful and Gryffindor. We never give up, I thought. The Gryffindors never give up and never give in, so I resisted him when giving him what he wanted wouldn't hurt anyone and anything."

"No," Severus pressed Desi to himself, "never think that. Giving in is never right in these situations. Every defeat begins with giving in. Small things, at first, then bigger. Yes, I realize that those poor boys could have lived, but it wasn't your fault in any way. That's what he wanted you to think, and that's why he insisted on telling it to you. If you gave in then, we probably wouldn't talk right now. He would have won already."

"Yeah, listen to Eskil-san," Lady Anissina decided to make her presence reminded of finally. Both Shifters flinched remembering that they were not alone. The demoness stood quietly near the wall, looking at them in contemplation. "I don't know all the details, and maybe it's not my place to tell you this, but I definitely support Lord Eskil's words. With the enemy like that, there can never be giving in for the sake of escaping pain. Yes, you would probably save those boys from death, but then... you would hate yourself more for giving up. You would begin to doubt yourself, doubt your actions, and doubt your mind. You would lose the war instead of one battle at once. So never think you did anything wrong... And on this note, I just want to note that I'm incredibly glad we never had evil humans or wizards...or demons...or beings like that. The only one close enough was the Soushu, the embodiment of all human negative emotions put into semi-physical state. But I have to say, for all its evilness and power, it mainly wanted to eradicate our existence and destroy the world. It didn't have the ...emotional capacity... to enjoy others pain. If it could, it destroyed. If it could, it brought pain. But to be twisted like this Lord of yours... I've never heard of someone on that level of cruelty," she shuddered, "and now I feel like I'm very lucky to live in Shin Makoku and not somewhere else, even with recent wars."

Harry and Severus nodded in agreement. So far this world resembled paradise, indeed. Undoubtedly, it had some unsavory characters and its own type of evil, but for what both Shifters seen, it all seemed somehow...unreal after what they've been through.

-break line-

Harry sighed. He could understand what the adults were trying to say but it still didn't make it better. So what if they were right? The lives were lost, and words couldn't return them. It wasn't like he wanted to feel guilty, but he couldn't help it. He always felt responsible for those he couldn't save even when he knew he wouldn't be able to, that's why...he trailed off...then his eyes lit up with determination.

He suddenly knew why he couldn't draw out the wings.

"Uncle Soteres, could we go to one of the Towers here?" he detached himself from his guardian's arms.

"Desi?" the Potions Master was surprised by this sudden question. "Well, I don't see any reason not to, but... do you feel well?"

"Yes, why?" Harry was giddy with anticipation. He was sure his idea would work. There was no reason not to.

He felt his Uncle's concern, but wanted to surprise him, so he didn't explain his idea.

"Lady Anissina, could you lead us to one of the Towers here? I'm not very familiar with the layout of the castle," the Shifter in question looked at the demoness.

"Of course," Anissina smiled, "Fresh air would be nice right now."

They went out of the castle into the inner garden. Anissina led them to the narrow round tower apart from the main buildings. It had a large balcony on the top and the view of the town below was captivating.

"So, why did we come here?" Severus tried to read his charge's face, but the boy was unreadable.

"Hmm," the young Shifter looked around and went to the front of the balcony. "I had this thought in the dungeons. You know, about guilt. The wings... they belong to Varnaay Heritage, which I received from Draco. When Draco died... I never told you, Uncle, and there wasn't time or mood to talk about it, truthfully, because... it's painful to remember for both of us," Harry looked down sadly, "He died in front of me, killing himself right after he gave away his Heritage to me. Voldemort gave him a choice, to torture me and die fast, or die slowly. He fooled him and killed himself. He was so brave, Uncle. I knew I couldn't save him. I knew...but as you said, I cannot help but feel guilty because of that. The wings belonged to him. What right do I have to use them? But...to live, I can." He leaped on the balcony fence, which elicited horrified gasps behind him. Smiling, he turned back. As he expected, both of the adults looked stunned with faces bleached of all color. Through his link he could feel that Potions Master was scared out of his wits. _Oh, there will be Hell to pay later_, he thought with a shudder, but he wasn't going to hesitate now. He was feeling the wings finally, standing here, in the place that reminded him of Astronomy Tower so much, the only place where he could feel peace and freedom of the flight. He was born to fly, and his soul was longing for the feel of the wind, the rush of the speed and the excitement of the air acrobatics. He stepped into the emptiness... and felt the brilliant whiteness erupt from within at the same second. Two magnificent wings spread out, large and powerful, beating rhythmically and slowing his descent. From above he felt the scream that tore out of his guardian's and Anissina's throat. Strangely enough, he thought he heard the third scream, but shrugged it off. Turning the falling into the smooth gliding, he began to ascend. He felt alive.

-break line-

If he glanced at the ground this moment, he would have seen Lord Gwendal holding his chest and leaning on the wall, along with black-haired bespectacled teenager who had his mouth hanging open.

"Geika, please tell me I haven't just seen that," Gwendal pleaded weakly.

"Well, if you mean that suicidal jump that wasn't suicidal after all, then no, you didn't dream it." Murata scratched his head, "so what in the Shinou's name happened here while I was away? Did Anissina experiment on some unfortunate soul and it got away? I think I heard her screaming up there..."


	14. Chapter 14

A.N: Sorry about long wait. I was wasting away at work, but I didn't forget my story - no way! I actually had couple of ideas that I just can't wait to write:)

Anyway, Harry Potter characters and Kyou Kara Maou characters, story, plot, whatever comes to mind - don't belong to me and I make no profit out of using them. Cheers!

Chapter 14

If there was ever a moment that Severus Snape was close to getting a heart attack, it was a moment when Harry stepped off the balcony. His mind has simply blanked out from the horror of the situation, unable to process any thoughts. The reality around him became impossibly sharp and clear at the edges, all noises too loud, all colors too bright and surreal. His mind registered the screams around him, but he couldn't comprehend who was screaming. The image of Harry smiling, looking up, stepping back was tormenting his conscience, not fading away, not dulling with each passing moment. His chest was hurting, he noticed distantly. Why was it hurting? Why? Why did Harry…? Was he, Severus, to blame? Harry didn't seem as if he wanted to die, but what did he want to do then? Only when the winged figure of his ward have appeared before his eyes again, rising and spinning into the sky above, Severus came back to his senses, and was immediately horrified again. He tried to understand what Harry was thinking gambling his life on a simple hunch, a mere feeling that could be or could be not right. He finally managed to process Desi's words before his not quiet suicidal stunt, but it didn't make him feel better. In fact, it made it worse. Severus wasn't sure how it was worse exactly, he just knew that it was. Because of the guilt? Not understanding in time to prevent it? Not telling Severus first? Who knew… But looking at laughing figure in the sky, he was feeling confused and a bit lost. He was… he still was useless when it mattered the most.

_Shift in POV_

Murata Ken was an extraordinary human and saw a lot in his current and previous lifetimes. Being reincarnated over and over again so he could fulfill his promise to the Shinou gave him a chance to experience things in all parts of both of Shin Makoku and Earth worlds, but he couldn't remember ever seeing flying humans if that was a human. He glanced at Gwendal sideways, analyzing his reaction and creased his forehead in a frown. Gwendal's reaction was strange in its intensity: he could understand paleness and frightful expression on the face, but fairly noticeable tremble in the hands wasn't part of the expected reaction for a soldier of his calibre. Also, there was a lack of surprise. The scare, yes, it was present, but not the surprise. The flying being was known to the Demon General. What exactly has happened during the two weeks he was absent? Knowing Yuuri though, anything could, from alien invasion to discovery of new or lost species. It was ridiculous, really, how much trouble one person could find. He shuddered to think what would happen if Yuuri met his match in trouble-finding…

_scene from the beyond_

… Somewhere in the universe the goddess of Luck smirked forebodingly…

_shift in POV_

"So," Murata coughed, "do you mind telling me who is this and what is going on here?"  
"This is our guests from different world. They are called Shifters, and there are two of them. You saw Ramiel, and I guess up on the tower is his guardian Lord Eskil…" Gwendal wasn't up to answering questions, but he also couldn't ignore Daikenja. Maybe he should send Murata to Konrart? "Different world?" Murata's eyes glinted behind the glasses. "Really?"  
"Yes," Gwendal sighed and started to go towards the tower, inviting Murata with the nod of the head along, "however, it is not Earth. That is, not your Earth. Have you ever heard of wizards?"  
"Wizards? Really? I thought you called them Shifters."  
"I did, and they are Shifters now, however, they were Wizards in their world. Due to some circumstances, they were changed into what they are now. The most tragic tale…" Gwendal looked up to Ramiel who was still doing acrobatics in the air. "Wizards…" Murata chewed his lip thoughtfully, "I think you don't mean Houseki magic. Or Earth magicians, for that matter. Then I'd have to say no. By the way, how did the hunt for the bandits go?"  
"The bandits were caught, but apparently, the organization was larger than we suspected. Some demons did not like new peace, so they decided to disrupt it by making attacks."  
"Why wouldn't they like it? I thought everyone was tired of war already," Murata asked puzzled. "Except those who did profit on it," Gwendal sighed.  
They made it to the top of the tower finally and Gwendal discovered that Ramiel already landed and now was standing near his guardian with extremely guilty face. Good, at least he understood that what he did was wrong, Gwendal nodded to himself.

_shift in POV_

Severus was silent. His ominous lack of words hang in the air like a heavy cloud, and he knew he should say something at least, but he simply couldn't. He knew that if he broke that silence, he would lose all traces of control he so desperately grasped at right now. He barely held himself back from grabbing his ward and shaking him, shouting at him, screaming and begging not to do anything like this again, never again, or maybe hug him and check if he was all right, or scared as well, or exhausted, or… He trembled from shock, and anger, and fear. Afraid to say or do something at last, something he will surely regret later, Severus shook his head and turning away let out the few words that managed to crawl from his throat through the strained control: "Our room. Now." He didn't even glance at the others. Not looking back, he started back to their room at a fast pace. After a brief silence, he heard the sound of footsteps softly following him.

_shift in POV_

Harry knew he had moments where he did something incredibly stupid, but until the moment he saw his guardian's face he never regretted his escapades much except several times like with Sirius or his …ex-friends getting hurt. He never feared the consequences for himself, be it broken bones or death. Who would miss him, really? Seeing his Uncle's face reminded him, however, that there was someone who would, indeed, miss him. How did he forget it in the moment of his reckless euphoria? He trudged softly after tall, dark Shifter trying to come up with an explanation to his actions. The excuse of "I didn't think" seemed weak to him if not insulting. It was the honest one, though. He tried to listen to Potion's Master's emotions, but they were like a whirlwind of jumbled strands, anger and fear, and guilt sticking out here and there. Instinctively, Harry wrapped his wings around himself with a soft barely noticeable whining. His guardian flinched as in struck and turned around. For a few seconds, he just looked at Harry. The he sighed and his shoulders slumped in resignation. Without speaking a word, he walked up to Harry and lifted him up in his arms bride-style. Shocked, Harry stopped whining and retracted the wings, and just stared at his Uncle. Still not speaking, the other Shifter shook his head, and continued their way.

The end of their walk came much too soon for Harry's liking. He had all rights in the world to dread his guardian's ire, and knew it was unavoidable, but all the same he wished he could postpone their talk indefinitely. His guardian surprised him, however. Putting the boy on the bed, ex-Potions Master stood for some time silently staring at Harry. Finally, he opened his mouth: "Why?" Harry hang his head in shame: "I'm sorry. I didn't… I just… didn't think you'd be that worried. I knew I could do it, and so I didn't think to warn you…"

_shift in POV_

Severus closed his eyes. He felt he had to scold the boy, but the truth was… he didn't want to do it. He didn't think it would bring any results. A short walk to their rooms cleared his head and allowed him to get a grip on his emotions - he was calmer now and more rational. "Desi," he began, "I ask of you just one thing from now on: if you want to try something - some experiment, shift, magic spell, combat tactic, whatever - warn me or some other adult first. I admit that you experienced more than any being should have, and by all rights should be considered adult, but allow me this one indulgence - to be sure of your safety. Please."

_shift in POV_

The last word stunned Harry so much his heart constricted. "It's not that I didn't trust you," he finally answered, "I just forgot I should have told you first… How can I promise you what you ask of me if I won't remember it at the time? How?" Harry shook his head trying to ward off tears. His uncle took a seat by his side: "Then promise me to try. My anger was cause not by you not telling me anything, but that I was scared you could be hurt and not being able to do anything. By your disregard to your own safety. Promise me you'll try at least." Harry looked him in the eyes:"I promise."

_shift in POV_

They spent the rest of the day lounging in their rooms, with Harry practicing drawing wings out, and Severus meditating on his third form. Apparently, Tria Forma worked much like Animagus form, except it was more powerful and mentally hard. With Animagus form, wizards had to research the animal form, accept it as their own, imagine being the animal, having animal body. It didn't require the necessity to think like an animal. The wizard's mind was a constant. When they turned into animal form, they had to assert their dominance over animal part of mind and suppress it, thus becoming wizard mind in animal body. The most skilled could let animal mind to dominate still keeping themselves separate. It was a delicate balance easily disrupted and the consequence was partial insanity or spending the rest of one's life as an animal. Being forcibly reversed to human form would return some semblance of human mind to unfortunate wizard or witch, and that was an exact reason that all Animagi had to be registered (that it allowed Ministry to control all Animagi was just an additional bonus).

Being a Shifter was different. Severus understood it first when he managed to shift to Secunda Forma first. His thinking pattern changed at once, and he noticed it because he spend his whole life controlling his emotions, thoughts and expression. He could almost see the wild nature of the being he shifted into. He could see the thoughts changing priorities and the increasing speed of the thinking process. He could see the erratic flow of the said process. He could feel human instincts fade away and new ones take place. Frankly speaking, it terrified him. He was mastering his own mind all his life and to see it all crumbling away was making him feel helpless. If his Secunda Forma was changing him so much what did await him with Tria Forma, where he shed his humanoid form completely? To Shift he had to yield himself to the unknown, and he couldn't. He just…couldn't. Sighing, he opened his eyes and immediately they nearly bugged out. In place of Harry sat cute black kitten with shadows swirling around large paws. Ridiculously huge green eyes stared at him with a sparkle of mischief.

"Desi?" he called surprised. "But how? This is Quatra Forma, and that would mean you achieved Tria Forma?"  
The kitten sniffed, closed his eyes, and three seconds later there was a young falcon instead, dark-grey with silver shine on the feathers. Little electricity sparks arced randomly over his wings with a constant buzz, and you could see a storm clouds swirling in its eyes. "But how?" for the second time in his life proper articulation failed poor Potions Master. Falcon cawed once and turned back into human form. "We-e-ell," Harry blushed, "it was like this..."

P.S. Harry is awesome:)


End file.
